Book 2 - Facades and Veritas
by Wing Saber Prime
Summary: Things are going as one might expect with the Autobots. Prejudice is thick towards the young Seekers. But what happens when two frontliners known to hate Seekers start to show affection towards Wing Saber? Why does Soundwave have such an interest in both her and Bladestream? And what is this similarity she senses between Optimus and Megatron? Rated T for cussing, hints of sex.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is the first chapter of "Façades and Teritas". I apologize in advance if any character seems OCC. I never watched Generation 1 and I don't plan to. If anyone has, and I need to correct something, please tell me so I can make changes.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 _The truth is a hard thing to find and is often offensive. It is as delicate as a snowflake, yet as strong as steel. Sometimes, it is out in the open and other times, it is hidden from view._

 _The truth is a light in the darkness. There are people who don't like the light. Many seek to cover it up with facades. Other seek to destroy it at its source._

 _Sometimes, you have to protect the light, covering it up and protecting it from those who would destroy it. Waiting for the right time when you can expose it and the truth can chase away the darkness in people's hearts._

 _Sometimes, pain can make you hide the truth … and it takes the right person, who values you and the truth you have, who is willing to take the time and energy needed to uncover the light._

 _If only there was someone willing to do so without selfish motives. Someone who cares enough about you to dig up the truth of who you are like buried treasure and treasure it like it were precious jewels._

 _If only there was someone who cared … about us …_

… _about me …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Stardust walked out of the medbay, datapad in hand. Ratchet had given her homework about the basic anatomy of a ground-based Cybertronian. Ratchet had been teaching her about Cybertronian biology since her family arrived at the Autobot base.

Stardust and her brothers and sisters had been kidnapped from their homeworld as humans by a Decepticon named Shockwave and he turned them into Cybertronians as a part of a project for his leader, Megatron. She and her family were the sole survivors of the project and fled Shockwave's lab. They met some Decepticon Seekers who training them to fight and helped them get to Autobot land. Megatron caught up with them though, and fought to take them back and her older sister, Wing Saber, paid a hefty price. Wing Saber got stabbed in the shoulder by Megatron himself and nearly lost her arm and shoulder. Good news; she got to keep it. Bad news; she had a long recovery.

Thanks to Shockwave, each member of her family had special powers that they discovered when they escaped the lab. Bladestream, her older brother, had great speed and strength. He could shield their spark signatures to avoid detection. Ratchet suspected that he might also have telepathic abilities.

Stardust herself could not fight very well, but she could heal her family members if they got hurt.

Her younger brother, Jetstorm, could clone himself once and for a limited time, control the clone.

Her younger sister, Wind Dancer, could shapeshift into any animal that was her size or smaller.

For the longest time, they thought that Wing Saber had no powers at all, except for incredibly keen senses. Her senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell were ten times as strong as the average Cybertronian. It wasn't until her family had almost reached Autobot territory that the Decepticons caught up with them and shot them with an energon cannon that they discovered Wing Saber's power; energy. Her sister's frame stored energy from energon and when they were in battle, anyone who shared a sparkbond with Wing Saber would have energy pushed through their bond from her and the abilities of her family members would be enhanced.

Unfortunately, this also leaves Wing Saber with severe energy drain and Ratchet had to put her on an energon drip and drug her to make her sleep so she could regain her strength.

Ratchet finally released Wing Saber last groon after keeping her in the medbay for vorn, but she had her shoulder and arm in a brace so that she couldn't move them. Ratchet said that once the shoulder joint healed, he could take the brace off and physical therapy can begin. Until the brace comes off, she can't transform or fly.

Stardust remembered Wing Saber's reaction to being turned loose. Her sister actually missed the grumpy medic and returning to the medbay to visit him; although she kept out of his way. She didn't talk to him much, but she kept hanging around him.

Stardust looked up to the medic and wanted to be like him. She hoped that she could one day join him in the infirmary.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a blur of cyan blue and dull gold crossed her path and she came to a halt with a yelp before she crashed into it. The blur kept walked and she turned towards it to find it was her sister, Wing Saber.

Every member of Stardust's family retained their hair and optic color when they were turned into Cybertronians. Wing Saber's hair was a dull gold and came down to her waist. Her hair had nine small braids accented with translucent cyan glass beads that started at her part, eight of them were pulled back into a ponytail that came in line with the tops of her audio receptors. The second braid from the front on the left side was left out of the ponytail and was left to hang down her chestplates. It was pinned out of Wing Saber's faceplates by a rosy pink rose about half the size of Stardust's palm, made of thin, lightweight metal. An old friend of the family back home used to call that braid Wing Saber's "warrior's braid".

Wing Saber's primary color was a bright cyan blue with thin ribbons of creamy white twisting over the curves of her armor; starting at her ankle joints, wrist joints, and wing joints, getting thinner as they spread over her armor. Tiny, soft rosy pink petals accented the creamy bands like petals on a pond, occasionally spilling onto the blue of her armor. The protoform underneath and her faceplates were a pale silver. Her optics retained their deep sapphire blue color. Her frame was a bit thick for a femme due to the energy stores.

Stardust on the other hand, had dark brown hair, which did not go more than few digits' width past her shoulder blades. Her optics were also dark brown. Her protoform was a few shades darker than Wing Saber's and Stardust was a bit taller, too. Stardust's armor was a dark blue with hues of pink, yellow, orange, green and blue, making her armor look like a nebula. Scattered across her armor were tiny speckles of white from which she earned her designation. Her frame was thinner than Wing Saber's.

Stardust sighed at Wing Saber's retreating figure, wings tense with suppressed emotion. Word got out the Wing Saber was the only one of the three Seeker sisters who could procreate and since she got out of the medbay, various mech had been trying to get her into their berths to participate in … inappropriate … activities. Wing Saber tries to avoid those mechs anyway she can and turn them down, but there are a few who won't take the hint.

Wing Saber could handle the racist prejudice most Autobots had against Seekers and could shut them up with a single sentence, but lewd jokes and sexy lingo was another matter entirely. Wing Saber never had a boyfriend or fiancé back on Earth and the only mechs she had ever been with were the Seeker twins, Dreadwing and Skyquake. Due to her recent maturity, she was still a virgin by most cultures on this planet.

If the bond Stardust had with her sister was anything to go by, Wing Saber was starting to get to the point where she was about to start bopping people. Wing Saber was notorious for not liking to be touched in anyway, so that constant groping wasn't going over well.

No one would do it in front of Ironhide or Bladestream, though. Ironhide banged a few helms together and Bladestream sent two bots to the medbay where Ratchet added more dents to their helms with a wrench. Prowl was pretty good about catching the offenders and giving them brig time, but it didn't stop the more persistent bots.

She shook her helm and continued to the shooting range on base.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

The shooting range was mostly quiet for this time of orn. There were only a few scattered bots in the range, a few of the minibots, a Praxian named Bluestreak, and Jazz. Stardust spotted the rest of her siblings in the back left corner shooting at targets and training drones with a large black mech called Ironhide.

She decided to go say hi to Bluestreak before Ironhide pulled her into training.

Bluestreak was one of the best snipers in the Autobot army. He was half Wind Dancer's age when Megatron bombed the city-state of Praxus. He was the only survivor. Bluestreak liked to talk and he could talk on and on and on about anything.

Bluestreak was a silver bot with royal blue stripes on his armor. He was a tad taller than Stardust.

Stardust came over to him and waited until he finished shooting and he was reloading his rifle before tapping him on the tip of his right wing.

Bluestreak jumped and turned to face the grinning femme Seeker.

"Primus, Stardust, warn me before you do that. Use your field to tell me you're coming."

"I did, you were probably just so focused on what you're doing that you didn't feel me coming."

"I _have_ to stay focused. Someone could offline if I don't take out the Cons at the right time. Ratchet let you go early?"

"Yep! Just a test this orn. I got more homework, though. Not fun." She said, looking at the datapad she had been given before subspacing it.

"At least it can be done later." Said Bluestreak, picking up his loaded rifle and shooting a few targets. "How's Wing Saber?"

"She really wants the brace off. Ratchet plans on removing it at the end of the vorn."

"That's good. She really needs to fly again. A couple of friends of mine are experts on Seekers and they told me that Seekers need to fly ornly or they go stir crazy. I'm surprised she hasn't snapped at anyone yet."

"Wing Saber likes underground places," Stardust explained, "Back on the planet we lived on, there were many different caves and mines that the native life forms abandoned. Wing Saber liked to go in them and collect precious stones from inside them. She had a large collection back home." Stardust was careful to not mention that she and her family were once human. Only Optimus Prime's inner circle of officers knew the truth of her family's origins. Everyone else believed that the family had been born Cybertronian in a colony on an organic world. Prowl said it was best to keep it that way.

On top of it all, Bluestreak would likely blab about it unintentionally it the wrong bot.

"If she liked organic rocks, she might like Praxian crystals!" said Bluestreak, his wings fluttering with excitement. "Seekers love them! I have a few in my quarters. Wing Saber can have one, it might cheer her up! Wanna come to my quarters and pick one for her?"

Stardust opened her mouth to agree, but was interrupted.

"STARDUST!"

She turned around and found Ironhide glaring at her.

"Get your aft over here! You can talk later."

She turned back to Bluestreak. "Sure, Blue. Just let me finish with Ironhide."

"Okay, I'll see you in the rec room!" Bluestreak said, picking up his rifle again to shoot targets.

Stardust ran over to Ironhide. "Sorry, I had to say hi to Bluestreak."

"No pit stops when it comes to training. Say hello on your own time." Ironhide handed her an ion blaster. "Your mission; get the flag over there and take out the enemy as quickly and silently as possible." He turned away to correct her brother Jetstorm's stance and hold on his gun.

Stardust looked at the flag at the far end of the shooting range and saw the training drones activate. She sighed and prepared herself for a long orn.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber as on one of the rafters above the hall near Ratchet's medbay, her right stabilizer swinging aimlessly over the side, her back pressed against a vertical beam. The medbay had become a safe zone for her. Bots avoided the medbay if they could simply because no one liked to tick off the CMO. Ratchet may make threats and swear up one side and down the other, but he cared about each bot in his care and he wouldn't let bots harass her.

Stardust had attached herself to the CMO, so Wing Saber tried to keep her distance knowing her sister was training to become a healer and Ratchet was teaching her, but part of her still wanted the grouchy old mech's attention, too.

Wing Saber sighed. She was lonely. Once more, she wished her mother was here just so that they could talk. Back on Earth, Wing Saber had a very strong relationship with her mother. There was very little they kept from each other. Every day, they would talk about anything under the sun. She was always there for her mother and her mother was always there for her.

Wing Saber missed her mother's constant reminders of her homework or daily duties around the house. She could be a bit over bearing, but Wing Saber would not let anyone harm her.

Wing Saber emitted a subconscious click of sadness, her wings dropping and her EM field drawing closer to her frame. Her mother was long gone. If Wing Saber was to return to Earth, every person she ever knew would be dead. The grandchildren of the babies she had known would be grown and having kids of their own. At least Wing Saber knew her mother was in a better place. Someday, they would meet again. It may be millennia down the road, but Wing Saber would see her mother again in heaven.

 _Mama…_ Wing Saber thought as she fought to keep coolant behind her optic shutters.

Pedefalls interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and down the halls, but there was no one there.

She expanded her field to try to locate what she could not see. She detected Ratchet is the medbay. He was moving around, but his pedefalls were deeper and heavier. The medbay was sound proofed, so his pede steps were detectable only by vibrations, not sounds.

Again, more pedefalls. Light, small, close together. There were two sets. The owners were two individuals with a single pair of stabilizers, not a single four-legged bot.

They were in the vents above, coming closer to her position. She was starting to detect their fields. She did not recognize them as anyone from the base. Just as Wing Saber was about to comm the Autobot security officer, Red Alert, the pede steps suddenly picked up their pace and she heard a thud before the vent grill she was under fell into her lap with a tiny bot right behind it, causing her to jump.

The tiny bot squirmed around for an astro-second before righting itself. It looked up at her with its red optics. Its optics widened and excitement and recognition.

"It's you! You're alright!" the tiny bot cried.

"Huh?" Wing Saber asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Don't you remember me? Me 'n my brother saw you in Shockwave's lab! Rumble liked you; Ravage, too! You felt like the Boss! The Boss would've wanted to keep ya!"

Oh! Right. Wing Saber did remember them. This tiny Decepticon and one like him fought on top of her chestplates before a cat kicked them off and took their place.

"Frenzy?" she guessed.

"Yes!" Frenzy cried.

A voice echoed in the vents above. "Frag it, Frenzy, quiet down! You're gonna get us-" a helm similar to Frenzy's peaked out of the vent, "- caught." He finished.

Frenzy was too excited to be bothered with his brother's scolding. "Look! It's her! It's her!"

Rumble looked at Wing Saber then back at his brother. "Yeah, so?"

"We can tell the Boss she's fine!"

"Soundwave wanted medical records, slag head! He didn't want us to make with anyone!" Rumble hissed.

"But she's right here! She's fine! Now we can find the other one! And he said not to make contact with the Autobots, not them! Look, she's not even an Autobot yet!"

"Soundwave is going to be so pissed when he finds out we've blown it! Get back up here before one of the Auto-freaks comes!"

Wing Saber's wings hiked up and her field colored with disapproval. She glared at Rumble like he was a small child.

Rumble visibly flinched under her gaze. Frenzy slowly turned to face the displeased Seeker.

The pitch of Wing Saber's voice lowered few notches. "What did you call them?"

Rumble got defensive and made the mistake of repeating the demeaning name, "Auto-freaks, but why do you care?"

"We … **do not** … call _anyone_ names. Even our enemies. Hurling insults at each other is one thing, name-calling is another. Your designation is everything you are. You do not label your enemies something demeaning or insulting, even if that's how you perceive them."

"But they ain't no good!" Frenzy said.

"Have you lived with them?"

The cassette-former in her lap looked at his pedes. "No …"

"Then you can't say that is who they truly are. If you believe you are really better than them, act like it. Be honorable and respect your enemy."

"But they call us names, too!" Rumble protested.

Wing Saber shook her helm. "That doesn't make it right."

The two brothers shut up after that. If they continued to argue, the femme was going to keep chewing them out. She was a smart one, a thinker. Soundwave believed she and her brother were special. That reminded them of their mission; to get files on this femme and the triplechanger 'cause Soundwave wanted to make sure they were okay after the battle last groon.

"Why were you two here again?" Wing Saber asked.

A gun primed up on the ground below.

"That's just what I'd like to know."

Wing Saber suppressed an optic roll. Gears. That minibot was always stirred up trouble. He and a few of the minibots closest to him made no effort to hide their disdain for Seekers. They liked to make her sisters feel dirty and guilty for what they were, rile up Jetstorm into a fight that usually lands them all in the medbay, make Bladestream look like a traitor, and often made Wing Saber feel like an object the Cons used for sinful pleasures. What made it worse, was that Wing Saber could not hide her reactions. Her feelings and moods were always written on her faceplates.

"What do you what, Gears?" Wing Saber asked, her wings lowering like cat's ears in annoyance.

The red and blue minibot rolled over her question like she never said it. "I knew you were hiding something. Shockwave's creations are always loyal to him."

"How many times do I and your superiors have to tell you …" she trailed off for a nanoklik as she reached up to grab a retreating Frenzy by the scruff-bar located on the back of the neck. She would have grabbed Rumble, too, if her other arm wasn't in a brace.

"Oh, frag!" Frenzy whined. If she had been an Autobot, he would've fought his way out of her grasp, but liked the Seeker femme too much to save his plating and risk hurting her. Besides, it wasn't like he had anything to hide. His mission was innocent enough. The worst trouble he was going to get in was the fact he got caught.

"… I'm not a Decepticon? I'm neutral."

Gears smirked. "Wouldn't be the last time a neutral's worked for Megatron in secret, selling information to him. Your visit with the cassetticons proves I'm right."

Wing Saber bristled and tried to protest, but Gears primed his blaster up more. "Nuh, uh, uh!" he said, pointing him blaster at a vulnerable Frenzy, still grinning.

Wing Saber moved Frenzy out of his line of fire behind her chassis, only to hear a second and third blaster prime up. She looked down on her right and saw a green and gray minibot named Brawn pointing a loaded blaster at Frenzy. She looked over her left shoulder and saw an orange and purple minibot named Huffer, his blaster pointed at her wing.

Feeling threatened, Wing Saber slowly pulled Frenzy closer to her chassis, flaring her wings to appear bigger.

"Do you get this scrap all the time?" Frenzy asked, eyeing the end Brawn's blaster.

"The blasters are new." Wing Saber answered.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Seeker," Gears said, "You can either take your little friend and come down nice and easy. Or, we can knock you out and lock you up for resisting. You choice."

Wing Saber looked between the minibots. Due to the brace, she could not use her arm, which meant she had one arm free. But that same arm was holding Frenzy. The loss of that arm meant that her balance was off. It would be very risky to jump off the rafter while to avoid their blasters at such a close range and keep Frenzy safe. She slowly stood up. It was a risk she would have to take. She had trained with both servos tied behind her back before. She just never had another life in the balance, too.

"What is going on here?"

Five helms turned to see a black and white Praxian coming down the hall on the left. His door wings held high, his faceplates and EM field neutral. Out of all the Autobots, Prowl was the hardest for Wing Saber to read. She had to really search both the look in his optics and the feel his spark to gauge his thoughts.

Prowl looked at the minibots who were aiming live blasters at Wing Saber. He looked at Wing Saber, who was holding one of Soundwave's cassettes by its scruff-bar. The minibots were radiating hostility and Wing Saber was in turn, was defensive. Her wings hiked up high tension. The look in her optic said she would defend the cassette at all cost.

This would not end well.

"Why are you aiming live weapons at an unarmed neutral, Gears?" Prowl asked.

"This Seeker is conspiring with the Decepticons!" Gears shouted.

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "That is a tall accusation, Gears. It is unlikely that Wing Saber would work with the Decepticons."

"But she was with the cassette! That is proof enough!"

"There is a higher chance that the cassetticon fell through the vent above." Prowl stated calmly.

"She could have been waiting for him there!"

"Need I remind you that Wing Saber was raised on an organic planet and the only Cybertronian tongue she knew was Seeker Cant? She did not now any other language on our planet before Jazz came along. Wing Saber has since then acquired Iaconian and Kaonite. Although, Soundwave's cassettes know all three languages, I have evidence that proves that Frenzy's contact with Wing Saber is pure infatuation, not to gather intel. Stow your weapons or I will have you thrown in the brig for the intention to cause harm to a neutral under the Prime's protection."

"But sir-"

"Do not question your orders."

Huffer and Brawn reluctantly stowed their blasters. Gears looked at Prowl, then at his comrades, then at Wing Saber and Frenzy. He growled a bit before stowing his own. "My apologies, sir."

Prowl blinked. "I'm not the one needs your apology, Gears."

Gears growled and looked at Wing Saber and said nothing.

"If you have nothing more to say, Gears, I suggest you take your hostilities elsewhere."

"What about the cassette?" Brawn asked.

"Optimus and I will decide what is to be done about Frenzy. You are dismissed."

Brawn and Huffer took their leave and went down the hall parallel with the beam Wing Saber was standing on. Gears lingered a moment longer, just enough to glare and the Seeker femme with a look that said, "this isn't over".

It wasn't until the minibots were some distance down the hall before Wing Saber relaxed. Frenzy let out a noisy sigh.

Wing Saber looked over and noticed that Prowl was still standing in the hall.

"Thanks, Prowl." She said, quietly.

"Thank Red Alert. He alerted me of the trouble. If you had run, and I had found out later about it, or had you been injured, those three would have had more punishment than brig time."

"Okay, trouble's over. Can you put me down now?" Frenzy asked.

"Actually," said Prowl before Wing Saber could say anything, "bring him to my office. I'd like to know what he was going here in the first place."

With that, Prowl walked back the way he came.

Wing Saber ignited her thrusters and slowly descended back to the ground.

"Will you let me go?" Frenzy asked Wing Saber, giving her a puppy-eyed look. "They will do awful things to me!"

She raised an optic ridge at him.

Frenzy deflated, "I guess that's a no."

Wing Saber walked after Prowl, carrying Frenzy by the scruff-bar.

Wing Saber walked down the hall until the hall "T'd" and took the left branch which lead to the offices. Optimus's office was this biggest office at the end of the hall, with Prowl's on the left and Jazz's on the right. Ironhide's was next to Prowl's and Red Alert's was next to Jazz's, although the red and white security officer was almost never in it.

Next to Ironhide, was Ultra Magnus and Elita 1, the femme commander of a team entirely made up of femmes. Ultra Magnus was the commander of the Wreckers, who were the Autobot equivalent of Black Ops. Ironhide was the weapons specialist, Jazz was Optimus's third-in-command and chief spy/saboteur, and Prowl was the second-in-command and head tactician.

Ratchet's office wasn't over here in this wing because he wanted to be close to the medbay, thus his office is literally in the back of the medbay. His quarters were right next to the medbay for the same reason.

Frenzy was adopting a hard exterior as they neared Prowl's office. As Wing Saber entered the office, gone was the teenage, foulmouthed cassetticon. A hardened Decepticon had taken his place. She could feel Rumble in the vents above. Apparently, he was not leaving his brother.

Prowl was already seated at his desk. Optimus was standing to his left, Jazz was seated on the end of the desk, and Red Alert was standing behind Prowl on his right. Ironhide was leaving against the left wall with his arms crossed.

What surprised Wing Saber, was that Bladestream was here as well.

 **: What are you doing here? :** she asked through the bond.

 **: Ironhide told me to come. Don't know why. :** Bladestream said with a shrug.

"Wing Saber," Prowl said, "Give Frenzy to Ratchet, please."

Wing Saber cocked her helm. "Huh?" she said, just the door to the office opened and Ratchet walked in. "Oh." She held Frenzy out to Ratchet.

"Keep him. I don't need be trying to hold him down while I offline his weapons."

Wing Saber was a bit worried about how the Autobots were going to treat Frenzy.

Frenzy began to act like Ratchet was really going to hurt him.

"No, no, don't let 'im near me. Keep him away! Please, please!" he started to squirm, making things difficult for Ratchet.

Ratchet growled, "Hold still!" He grabbed Frenzy and pinned down his arms as Ratchet transformed one of his digits into a tiny cable and inserted it into a port in Frenzy's neck. Frenzy screamed and then became limp as his weapons systems went offline.

Wing Saber could sense Rumble's exasperation at his twin brother. Wing Saber pinched some sensitive wires at the base of Frenzy's neck near his shoulder. Frenzy sprang to life and cried out in actual pain.

"Ow ow ow ow, stop! It hurts!" He clawed at Wing Saber's digit's, but it did nothing more than scratch paint. When she didn't let go, he started cussing in Kaonite.

"Do not act like that." Said Wing Saber.

"Like what?" Wing Saber gave Frenzy a look that rivaled Soundwave's when the cassettes misbehaved.

"Fine." Frenzy said, crossing his arms.

Optimus addressed Wing Saber, "Wing Saber, please put Frenzy on the desk."

Reluctant to let the cassette go, she walked over to Prowl's desk and sat the tiny Con onto its surface and returned to Bladestream's side.

She watched as the Autobots asked Frenzy various questions about why he was here and he was here for. She lost interest in the interrogation and started tracing the pattern of the cream bands on her left wrist, her mind imagining the different shapes the pink petals made.

The petals reminded her of _Kung Fu Panda_ , when Master Oogway died and the peach petals took him away. She was disappointed they never got to watch the third movie in the saga. She wondered if they made more. Maybe if they ever returned to Earth, they could find out and make a _Kung Fu Panda_ marathon.

Prowl's voice snapped her back to reality.

She looked to see him looking at her with displeasure. All optics were on her. She felt her wings drooping.

"Yes…?" Wing Saber asked, confused by the expectant looks.

Optimus looked at Bladestream. Bladestream shook his helm. Prowl sighed. Jazz uncrossed legs. Ironhide shifted. Ratchet crossed his arms. Frenzy's optics darted from bot to bot. Wing Saber retracted her field. They were annoyed with her.

Optimus took a step forward. "Wing Saber, do you feel Frenzy is telling us the truth?"

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Almost as soon as Prowl started to interrogate Frenzy, Wing Saber's attention wavered. She tuned out the world entirely as she traces patterns on her disabled wrist.

Bladestream thought about bringing her attention back to what was going on in the room, but decided to leave her be.

Something was bothering her. It could just be the fact she was in a room full of people, but he didn't think that was right.

Ironhide was pinging him. _**:: Is she alright? ::**_

 _ **:: She is always daydreaming. Although her lack of concentration lately is bothering me. ::**_

 _ **:: She probably just needs to fly, youngling. Seekers don't do so well when they are cooped up. She seems to be doing pretty well, though. Hopefully Ratchet will take that brace off before she gets snappish. Ain't nothin' like an irritated femme. Her attention span should improve when she takes to the air again. ::**_

 _ **:: She misses home. ::**_

Ironhide nodded in understanding. _**:: Wind Dancer has told me a great deal about how much she liked nature. She must have been mighty fond of that organic planet. ::**_

Bladestream sighed. _**:: You have no idea. ::**_

The two mechs were drawn back to the activity in the room with Frenzy shouting.

"Because they feel like the Boss!"

Bladestream noticed that the tiny Con was getting frustrated. He seemed to feel as though he was running in circles and no one believed him.

"You expect us to believe that Soundwave is only interested in them because they feel like him?" asked Prowl.

Frenzy shook his helm. "He can explain it better. All I know is that those two feel just like he does. Maybe they're telepaths like he is, I don't know!" Frenzy threw his arms in the air in frustration and crossed them over his chassis.

Poor cassette. It was obvious to Bladestream that the little guy was being honest.

Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other then looked at Prowl. Prowl leaned on his elbows on his desk. They were probably talking over the comm. They looked at Ironhide. He shrugged.

"Bladestream, what is your opinion on this?" Optimus asked.

Bladestream stroked his beard. What he heard Frenzy saying resounded in his spirit. He did not detect any façades or any lies. The only thing Frenzy was trying to hide was the fact his brother was close by, hidden in the vents above.

As Bladestream thought about Optimus's question, the officers watched as the young triplechanger's optics changed from dark brown to gold.

Jazz was a little disturbed by the change.

 **\- What's wrong, Jazz? -** Prowl asked. Jazz was not nervous or unsure very often.

 **\- Wing Saber's optics turned gold when ah found that crystal for ya. She asked if ah was picking it for meh mate. –**

 **\- Wing Saber is very observant. I'm sure there is a logical reason their optics change color. –** said Prowl, sending a warm smile to his sparkmate.

Jazz grinned a bit. **– Everythin' is 'bout logic ta ya, Prowler –**

Prowl scowled at the nickname and turned his attention back to Bladestream. The young adult was deep in thought. After a good klik, he seemed to have reached his answer.

Bladestream addressed the officers. "I believe he is telling the truth. His optics do not hold a mask of deceit. Nor is there a fear of being found out. His arguments were spur-of-the-moment, but he stuck to his story and didn't change anything like he was trying to cover up something."

"Impossible!" Red Alert cried, "Cons are not capable of telling the truth!"

Bladestream shook his helm, "That statement is illogical. Decepticons may be prone to and have a history off lying, but it is not impossible for them to tell the truth."

"At least someone believes me!" said Frenzy.

Ratchet sent a private comm to Optimus, _**:: Optimus, I think I know why Bladestream and Wing Saber's optics change color. ::**_

 _ **:: What is it, old friend? ::**_

 _ **:: I'll tell you later. But I need to know if Wing Saber gets the same answer as Bladestream. ::**_

Optimus nodded. "Wing Saber, what is your opinion?" Optimus asked. No answer.

Prowl straightened in his chair. "Wing Saber." Wing Saber did not answer. Instead she traced the pattern of her paint job on her immobilized wrist.

Prowl frowned. " _Wing Saber._ " He said, louder than the last time.

This got her attention. Her helm snapped up and she looked around the room. Her field contracted with nervousness and her wings slowly fell at the stares.

"Yes …" she asked tentatively.

Optimus looked to Bladestream. The young mech shook his helm. Wing Saber had not been paying any attention.

Prowl sighed in frustration. She should have been more attentive to her surroundings. Optimus stepped in.

"Wing Saber, do you feel Frenzy is telling you the truth?"

Wing Saber raised an optic ridge and cocked her head a bit. "About what?"

"Concerning his purpose here. Do you think he is telling the truth, or is he lying?"

Wing Saber looked at the cassette and the moment she and Frenzy got optic contact, her optics turned gold as well. Her field brushed against the cassette's and soon Frenzy squirmed under her gaze.

She gave her answer faster than Bladestream. She looked Optimus. "He's not lying," she said with confidence.

Ratchet spoke, "How do you know he is not lying?"

Optimus almost reprimanded the medic.

Wing Saber's wings were low with nervousness. Ratchet could already tell that the young femme's logic processor was locking up from the pressure.

The Seeker shook her helm, "I … I just … know. I … I can feel it. I can't sense a lie."

Wing Saber's cooling fans quietly kicked into gear to cool her frame. Her spark rate had increased. With her nervousness, her optics returned to sapphire.

Ratchet felt like the two had answered honestly. He looked at the Prime and nodded.

"Very well," Optimus said, "then I trust your judgement."

Red Alert just about had a panic attack right there. "WHAT?!" he cried.

Optimus ignored him. "Ironhide, please see to it that Frenzy makes it outside the base. His brother should follow."

"With pleasure, Prime." Ironhide said, picking up Frenzy up the scruff-bar.

"Hey!" Frenzy protested, "What about my weapons?"

Ratchet waved him off. "Soundwave can fix it. I will not have you turning your weapons on anyone here and making more work for me."

Frenzy complained loudly as Ironhide left the office with him in tow.

Optimus looked at everyone else. "The rest of you are dismissed."

The office quickly emptied, leaving only Jazz and Prowl. Wing Saber hung back a bit to see where Red Alert was heading. Seeing him go down the hall towards the center off the base, Wing Saber called out to him.

"Red Alert!"

The mech turned as she caught up with him.

"Do you have cameras in the vents?"

"No," he said, "I've tried to get cameras put in the vents, but bots tell me I'm being paranoid."

"Now might be a good time to get them installed. I think the cassettes are coming in through the vents."

Red Alert leaded forward and held out is servos. "That's what I keep saying! But no one listens to me!"

"Try asking again?" Wing Saber asked.

Red Alert paused. "Maybe…"

Wing Saber shrugged, "It's worth another try, right?"

"I guess so. They seemed to listen to you. If I say you said it, maybe they'll listen. I knew those cassetticons were getting in somehow!" he said, running off to the security room.

Wing Saber smirked and shook her helm. No doubt Red Alert is going to give Prowl a hard time about cameras in the vents.

Wing Saber frowned. What bothered her, was that Soundwave was interested in her and Bladestream. What did he want with them? She'd have to ask Bladestream what was said earlier when she tuned them out.

But right now she was low on energy. She needed energon and a nap. She went in the opposite direction towards the rec room to retrieve a cube and get to her quarters to nap.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Ironhide had not been very gentle in depositing Frenzy over the wall that surrounded the Autobot base. The black mech told him to get lost and shot at him a few times. Frenzy took off toward Kaon and Rumble soon joined up with him. They used their bond with Soundwave to ask for a ground bridge once they were out of jammer range.

When Soundwave sent the ground bridge, the twin cassettes returned to their places inside Soundwave's tape deck within his chest. Upon docking, all knowledge and memories that the cassettes had were seen by the silent mech.

As Soundwave viewed Frenzy's memories, he watched as Optimus asked the black and silver triplechanger and the cyan femme Seeker's opinions about Frenzy's innocence. He felt Frenzy's feelings about being under their stares. While the silent Con was a bit upset with rumble not getting the two Seekers' medical records ( _[sorry, Boss]_ ), it did not really matter now. His suspicions about the blue femme's potential was correct. And the triplechanger passed with "flying colors".

They would get no training with the Autobots. There were no telepaths among them. He would need to establish dominance and earn their respect before he could train them properly. Megatron would not like it, but something told Soundwave that these youngsters were the key to ending the conflict between Optimus and Megatron. Soundwave had a feeling that the High Council wanted Orion and Megatron's friendship to end and with it, the Revolution. He told Megatron that day that going before the Council was a bad idea. But his stubborn friend went anyway. Megatron's growing thirst for power didn't help matters. He knew Megatron's spark still bled and longed for Optimus Prime, but his pride and hurt would not allow the gladiator to pursue the Prime.

It was highly unlikely the two Seekers would leave the shelter of the Autobot base, so he would have to wait. Wait for the right moment to establish his dominance as the highest ranking telepath. That opportunity would not come for a while.

As his symbiots rested, he began to plan.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 **First chapter complete. Please let me what you think! *gives readers puppy-eyes***


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 _Brilliance and intelligence are seen as "too good" for normal people. And silence is viewed as lofty. My silence is because I am not like other Seekers who constantly preen themselves and call for attention. I don't like the spotlight. My silence says I am an observer. I am slow to speak and interact. My silence also indicates my intelligence. How this is, I don't know. All I know, is that I may be intelligent, but my brother is brilliant. If you put the two of us together on the same task, our combined IQ is off the charts._

 _While we have our own walls to protect ourselves, we are very transparent. With us, there are no facades. That often bothers people. While the leadership here is attracted to it, the others are turned off by it. This is even true with the rest of our family. We are either loved or hated. And even when we are loved, it is only a matter of time before they turn on us._

 _But how long will it be before the leadership turns on us? Every other person in leadership we got close to back home eventually turned on us and tried to destroy us. They tried to drive a wedge in the strong relationship we have with our mother. But our mother is not here, it is just us._

 _Our bond is strong, stronger than it ever was back home. I believe that together, we can get through anything._

 _I never married. I have no husband or kids waiting for me back home. And now, I never will. Maybe God has a special someone for me here. Cybertronians are intimate beings; even more so than humans._

 _Maybe, just maybe, I can have a special companion to share life with …_

…

 _*sigh*_

…

 _Or, perhaps there is a chance that it was never meant to be …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Jetstorm tapped the buttons on his controller as he steered his vehicle down the virtual race track on the screen. His blue car was just behind the red one. The two cars were racing down a winding track through down town Iacon. It was so much more complex than Mario Kart. Cybertronian games were so cool! Even his older brother, Bladestream, marveled at the graphics and design of the few games the Autobots possessed.

Jetstorm shook his helm to get some of his chocolate brown hair out of his dark brown optics. His frame was a rich royal blue with broad crimson red bands that streaked across his plating, making him look bigger than he really was. All traces of the mustache he was starting to grow as a human youth were now gone and he would not see it again, thankfully, until he was fully weaned and in his adult frame. He really didn't care for the idea of having a mustache and beard like his brother.

Jetstorm was skinny for his frame type, but he was quickly gaining bulk. His armor no longer hung loose on his frame.

He bumped his avatar's vehicle form and Warpath's and caused his friend to run into an obstacle, gaining a frustrated grunt and a curse as Jetstorm used a speed boost to gain ground. Jetstorm smirked. He was back in his rightful place in first.

Jetstorm's younger sister, Wind Dancer, stood behind the coach, leaning against the back of it as she watched the two youngsters play. Her armor was a gentle lavender with thin bands of soft pink swirling in little curly-q's all over her armor. Her optics were the same dark brown as Jetstorm's own. Her hair was a much lighter blonde than the hair of their oldest sister, Wing Saber. And much longer, reaching just below her aft. Most of the time, Wind Dancer kept her hair twisted up and wrapped in a bun. She had it down this orn.

Wing dancer was thin and lean like the dancer she was. She never stopped dancing after they were taken from Earth and it became an advantage in battle.

Wind Dancer saw a flash of silver out of the corner of her optic and turned to find Jazz sneaking up behind them. Jazz put a finder to his lip plates, asking her to be quiet. She nodded and tried to keep a straight face as she scooted over a bit. Jazz crept up behind Jetstorm and Warpath. He slowly peeked over the edge of the coach and quickly placed each servo on the shoulders of the two younglings shouting, "BOO!"

Both mechs startled so bad their avatars flew out of control. Jetstorm's drove of the edge of the track into a bottomless pit just before the finish line. Warpath's crashed into some sort of shop and now had angry bots running around telling him not to race indoors.

Jetstorm was not happy. "Jaaazzz! That was mean!" he whined, now having to start at the last checkpoint farther back. He could only hope that he could make up the distance before Warpath could transform, get back to the track, transform again, and get back up to speed.

Jazz grinned behind him. "Sorry, mech, but you two were so engrossed in thah game that ah had to do somethin'."

"Don't you have patrol duty, Jazz?" Warpath groused as he finally transformed onto the racetrack and Jetstorm sped ahead again.

"Not for anotheh joor, mech. Need tah get meh some energon before ah go."

He turned to address Wind Dancer. "Greetin's, Lil' Lady! How are we this orn?" he said with a mock bow.

"Jazz hands!" Wind Dancer said, holding her servos out by her shoulders, slightly waving them as she grinned.

Jazz chuckled. On the young femme's homeworld, there was a type of music that shared his name. Wind Dancer had been learning a dancing style that also shared his name and she had been all too happy to teach the saboteur the moves. He couldn't wait to throw another party just so he could show off with her on the dance floor. If Wing Saber let her, that is. That femme kept her sparkling sister on a tight leash. If it weren't for all the hate most mechs had towards Seekers, Jazz would call Wing Saber paranoid.

And yet, he could understand where the femme was coming from. He had heard enough about the culture the younglings came out of to know that it was a bad idea to leave a female youngling unattended in a room full of grown males. The youngling would not have stayed innocent for long. Their world in general was not kind to young females.

He guessed that was also why the femme Seeker was so stand-offish. While males meant protection and strength, they also posed a great threat.

It was going to take a while before Wing Saber understood that no one here would do something like that, to any of them, and that she could leave her sisters with a stray Autobot for a time and they would be fine.

Wing Saber and Bladestream both were not ones to trust easily. The three younger ones found friends quickly, but the older two had yet to interact with the bots on base. Wing Saber was usually hanging out by the medbay and Bladestream would be with Prowl, talking logic or playing logical board games. Yesterorn, Bladestream was trying to teach Prowl how to play a game from his planet called chess. Jazz had no clue how that went.

When the two older siblings were not in those places, they were inseparable. One was never far from the other. They could be found in some hallway, talking in their mother tongue.

He ruffled Wind Dancer's hair and her faceplates scrunched up in an exaggerated scowl before combing her digits through her hair and flipped it over her shoulder, turning back to watch the mechs race.

Jazz got a cube from the energon dispenser and sat at one of the tables in the rec room. What Frenzy had said moments ago troubled him. Ratchet had Optimus ask Wing Saber and Bladestream's opinion in order to test whether what he had already suspected was true. Ratchet suspected that Bladestream was telepathic. That would explain why Frenzy said they felt like his master. If so, Wing Saber's telepathic abilities were not as strong as Bladestream's, but definitely there. Those two already had a piercing gaze, but when their optics turn gold, Jazz swore that gaze could see right through your spark.

He honestly hoped that Soundwave had no interest in them, or they could be in trouble.

Jazz swirled the contents of his cube. Now that he thought about it, that would also explain why those two kept to themselves. Telepaths were known before the war as being loners. Many bots in one place meant an onslaught of data from the minds of said bots.

A shout of victory from the couch drew his attention. Despite driving off a cliff, Jetstorm had won and was bragging about it. Warpath was grumbling about losing to a youngling again.

Jazz shook his helm and finished the contents of the cube in one go. He was going to go see what his mate was up to before patrol.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

"Check." Bladestream said, moving a bishop over so that Prowl's king was in its path.

Bladestream was good at this game, so good that Prowl had to redo his strategies three times in the last breem and they had been at this game for a good joor now.

Their game of chess was beautifully carved out of crystals by Wing Saber, Bladestream's older sister. One set of pieces for the board were blue, the other set was red.

They had to stop their game when Prowl had gotten a call from Red Alert saying the Wing Saber was pinned in the rafters by the medbay by some minibots with a cassette in her servos. The cassettes had been a little more careless with their break-in into the base this time and that carelessness resulted Frenzy landing in Wing Saber's lap verses the rafter beam or the ground, which would have led to nasty results. And Ratchet would have likely had to repair him.

Wing Saber was probably at the wrong place at the wrong time. Her honesty had won Red Alert over to her side a little bit, though.

Prowl frowned at the board and placed a servo his chin strut. So far, Bladestream didn't seem to have discovered Prowl's latest strategy. He predicted this move, but had the young mech set a trap for him?

Not yet, Prowl thought. He moved his king back a space where it was protected. He would wait for Bladestream to slip and move the wrong piece.

Bladestream moved what was called a knight further down the board and took Prowl's queen. A necessary sacrifice.

It was a wrong move for Bladestream, though. Prowl had made it look like he had not been watching his most powerful piece. There was an 85% chance that in three moves, the game would be over, in Prowl's favor.

Prowl moved one of his rooks into position. It was too far away from Bladestream's pieces to be threatened, but it put the young mech's own king in check. "Check."

Bladestream looked at his king and raised an optic ridge. He had not expected to be put in check so quickly. Where did he go wrong?

Prowl watched Bladestream's dark brown optics roam across the board, his processor thinking hard.

Like his sisters and brother, Bladestream had hair. His was dark brown like Stardust's. Bladestream also had facial hair. It started out as pale as the protoform on his faceplates and quickly turned dark brown like his hair with hints of copper red. There was an occasional strand of hair that did not change color and remained silver.

For a large jet, Bladestream's paint job was quite pleasing. His paint was such a rich, deep blue it looked black unless the light shown onto his armor properly. His second color was a bright, shiny silver that wove acrossed his chassis in bands of varied thickness in beautiful patterns, though not too busy.

Bladestream stroked his beard in thought.

Prowl rested his chin strut on the back of his servo.

Bladestream moved a bishop in the way of Prowl's rook.

Prowl moved a pawn to the end of the board, traded it for his queen, and place the pawn the Bladestream's pile of captured pieces. Game over.

"Check mate."

Bladestream's servo came off his beard as he analyzed the board. Prowl's queen had put Bladestream's king in check, and had blocked other routes. Bishops and rooks blocked the king from a distance with a few scattered pawns and a knight kept the king boxed in. The queen in the corner blocked all other escape methods. Prowl had won … again.

Bladestream sat back in his seat. For a game that took almost 5 Earth hours, he was sure that Prowl would have lose by now.

Prowl seemed to read his processer and chuckled. "That is why I am head tactician, youngling."

Bladestream half glared at the SIC. "You also have a battle computer hotwired to your CPU."

Prowl allowed himself to smirk a little. "And that is why I am second in command."

Bladestream huffed and leaned towards the board, resting his elbows on his knee struts. He stared at the board while pulling up memory files of the last game and tried to figure out how Prowl beat him. One thing that he liked about being a Cybertronian, was being able to pull up memories in his HUD.

Prowl looked at the young Seeker lost in thought. "How is Wing Saber doing?"

Bladestream's optics shifted up to Prowl and back down at the board. "She's fine. A bit restless. More than ready for the brace to come off. She's recharging right now."

Prowl frowned. "Again?"

"She always takes a nap every few joors. She recharged a lot more when she fed the two little ones."

"It is a lot healthier for her if someone else suckles them." Prowl said.

Bladestream sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I know. It's just that she was so upset when Ratchet manually shut off her feeding lines. She flipped out for an orn or so as the protocols shut down."

Prowl nodded in understanding. "She is a Seeker and a femme. Femmes are built to carry sparklings and Seekers have been known to take it orphaned bots. Both sets of coding in a single bot and you have a hormonal femme who sees a couple of orphaned younglings being taken from her. She also knew that what Ratchet did was for the best, so she was fighting her logic processor as well as withdraws of the carrier protocols."

"I understand." said Bladestream. He had felt his sister's struggle to accept Ironhide and Chromia's new role in their lives. Quite honestly, Wing Saber still had not accepted either one of them very well. Bladestream wasn't by any means okay with the whole arrangement, but Wing Saber was still bucking against it. He believed she would have fought for her family to have quarters of their own if she had had the ability to do so.

Jazz took that moment to walk in Prowl's office. "Hey, Prowler!" he called cheerfully, his visor shining bright at the sight of his mate.

Prowl sighed, closing his optics in barely concealed exasperation. "Jazz, you know I don't like that nickname."

Jazz came over and kissed one of Prowls helm horns and stroked a doorwing affectionately. "But I like it," he purred.

Bladestream scowled and shifted uncomfortably. Jazz and Prowl were **males** and yet they were mates. No matter how many times Wing Saber told him that it was perfectly natural for two Cybertronian males to marry and give birth to offspring, as long as both didn't have strong sire coding so that at least one could carry young, it was just down right unnatural and it felt wrong. He just prayed that if God gave him a mate here, it would be a femme.

Prowl chastised Jazz over their bond. **– Jazz, you are making him uncomfortable. –**

 **\- Aw, but I love you, Prowler. -** Jazz said, nuzzling his mate's neck cables.

 **\- Males are not compatible on his home planet and such acts are strictly forbidden. Please stop. -** said Prowl, trying hard to glare at his mate.

 **\- *sigh* … Alright, Prowler. -** said Jazz, saying the annoying nickname one more time such for the sake of teasing Prowl before hopping onto his desk, careful not to disturb the datapads stacked neatly on the edge.

Jazz looked at the chess board, then glanced between the two mechs on either side of the desk. "Prowl won, again, huh?" Jazz asked, leaning towards Bladestream.

Bladestream's glare conformed it all.

Jazz grinned and turned back to his mate. "Ah thought ya were workin'?"

"We were already in the middle of a game. I told Bladestream that I would take time out each solar cycle and play a strategy game with him. This time, it was chess. He is getting better."

"But he can't beat Prime's head tactician!" Jazz said with pride. "Ya're thah best there is, Prowler!"

Prowl shook his helm.

Both bots turned at the sound of Bladestream's groan of realization. He had figured out his mistake.

"What made you do that, anyway?" Bladestream asked.

"It is quite simple …" Prowl said, resetting the board and giving Bladestream a rundown of the game, teaching the young mech the strategies he used along the way.

Prowl noticed over the last groon that the young triplechanger was very logical. Sometimes Bladestream's logic made Prowl's helm hurt, but didn't make any difference. From what Prowl had seen, the young mech would make a fine tactician. The problem was, Bladestream was still a neutral. In order for Prowl to take the triplechanger under his wing properly, Bladestream would have to join the Autobots, a decision that had slim chance of happening.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber balanced her energon cube on her braced arm as she keyed in the code to Ironhide's quarters. The doors slid into the wall and Wing Saber took her cube back into her free servo. She walked into the main room of the suite and let the doors slide shut behind her.

The main room was fairly large. On the left wall, there was a small kitchenette with a small energon dispenser on the counter. There was a couch and a love seat in the center of the room facing the right wall where a large screen hung just below the height of the back of the couch. The back wall had two halls branching off the main room. Down the left hall were Ironhide and Chromia's quarters on left with Jetstorm's and Wind Dancer's quarters on the right. The right hall lead to the quarters of the other three; Stardust on the left, Bladestream dead center, and Wing Saber's on the right.

Ironhide and Chromia had their own private wash racks. Bladestream and Jetstorm shared one and the femmes shared yet another.

Wing Saber went to the washracks she shared with her sisters. She wanted to bathe before laying down. She set her cube down on the counter and took two towels out of a cabinet beneath said counter. The towels were much more absorbent than towels on Earth and these were softer as well. She laid the towels on a stool near the washracks and turn the oil on.

There was very little water on Cybertron. There was mostly oil or energon that ran in rivers or lakes on the planet's surface.

It wasn't long before the oil had warmed and she turned on a solvent valve that added solvents to the running oil.

She stepped into the washracks and stood underneath the falling oil. The oil warmed her circuits and she sighed.

She was about to start the long process of washing her frame when she felt Chromia enter the suite. Wing Saber groaned. If Chromia discovered her in the washracks, Chromia would not let her bathe in peace. While it was true that Wing Saber needed help bathing right now, she still would rather bathe alone.

The washracks door open and Wing Saber barely suppressed a growl. Chromia used her suite overrides to unlock the door. Couldn't she just leave Wing Saber in peace?

"Wing Saber," Chromia called softly, mindful of the Seeker's sensitive audios. The first time Chromia went to help Wing Saber bathe, she had spoken too loudly in the cramped quarters and the poor Seeker needed to have Ratchet reset her audios. Wing Saber's hearing was much sharper than that of most spies, so loud noises were painful.

Chromia only got a flick of a wing as a response. Wing Saber was ignoring her. The Seeker loathed bathing with another bot. Ratchet had to make it a medical order for Wing Saber to bathe with a partner until the brace came off or Wing Saber would still be trying to bath herself; with little success.

Chromia waited. You could rarely talk that femme into doing anything. She was more stubborn than Ironhide. Quiet persistence was the best way to go. Wing Saber would eventually give in. Chromia couldn't force her to let Chromia help.

Wing Saber tried to ignore the older femme hoping she would leave her be. If Ratchet hadn't given on order to have help, she would have shooed Chromia out already.

Wing Saber could always resist, but the last time she did that, Ratchet bathed her himself. It was one thing for him to do it while she was recovering, but it was a whole other matter now. Not to mention the fact that Chromia was likely playing this whole thing for all it was worth.

She conked her helm against the shower wall. She was too tired to play stubborn.

" _Fine._ " she said.

Chromia pushed herself off the wall and got out another two towels. She would only do Wing Saber's hair, back, and wings. The Seeker could reach everything else. Chromia would only do just enough. During the few orns after Ratchet let the Seeker out of the medbay, Wing Saber had been on intense pain meds and let Chromia bathe her without much fuss. But once she was weaned off of them, Wing Saber showed strong objection to help.

Chromia stepped into the washracks and placed a stool behind Wing Saber. "Sit." she instructed. The young femme sat down on the stool. Chromia tipped Wing Saber's helm back and grabbed the shower head. She then wet Wing Saber's hair and lathered it with a liquid soap. Wing Saber's braids were a bit of a hindrance, but nothing much.

Chromia rinsed off the Seeker's hair and began to work at the seams of her shoulders and scruff bar. Wing Saber didn't care for being massaged, but she had gotten used to Chromia's method.

It was when Chromia finished with her back and started on her wings that Wing Saber began to relax. The only time a massage felt remotely good was on her wings. Chromia had asked Wing Saber a while ago to stand and Wing Saber rested her helm against the washracks' wall and groaned a bit. Chromia's digits were able to dig into seams that the wing brushes were not able to.

All too soon (though Wing Saber would never admit it), Chromia was rinsing off Wing Saber's wings. When she was finished, she put the hose back. "Your turn." she said, stepping out of the washracks and picking up a towel to dry herself off.

Wing Saber proceeded to wash the rest of herself. Chromia would wait until Wing Saber was done and help dry her wings. And back. When Wing Saber got the brace off, she would be able to dry her wings herself.

Wing Saber stayed under the oil for a while, enjoying the oil cascading down her armor, flicking her wings like a bird under the spray, chirring as she did so. When the soap was gone, she turned off the oil and stepped out of the washracks. Chromia handed Wing Saber a towel and dried the Seeker's wings while she dried off other places.

"All done," said Chromia, hanging up the half wet towel, "I will leave you now." Chromia left Wing Saber in the washracks with a final affectionate brush of her field against Wing Saber's.

With the closing of the washracks' door, Wing Saber's wings fell with an almost crushing sense of loneliness. She was sure that her siblings felt it, and even though she would never admit it aloud, Wing Saber was increasingly lonely. She could never say no to Chromia because she secretly longed for the closeness Chromia bought.

Wing Saber longed for the constant presence of another who was not her siblings, but she felt that she was never going to get it. It was better to just forget the whole thing.

Wing Saber hung up the towels she used and went to her quarters. She pulled back the blankets she had piled onto it and found a plushy that her sisters had a friend of Ironhide make for her. It was a deep dark red bear with a golden bow around neck. It was as tall sitting as the distance between her waist and her neck. It wasn't as soft as the one she had back home and the bow was the wrong design, but Wing Saber still loved it.

She moved the bear aside and took one of the thicker blankets and covered herself, bringing the bear close, wrapping her arm around it. She drifted off, setting her internal alarm for a good joor and a half later. Or less she would end up recharging too long. She didn't want Ironhide to wake her up again.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 **There's that. As for the review from the last chapter:**

 **KittyKatt25** **– yes, Soundwave will train Wing Saber and Bladestream later on. True telepathy is a lost art for Cybertronians. For my story, they rose up during the reign of the Quintessons (not sure I spelled that right …) and greatly aided in the war for Cybertron's freedom. They were numerous during the Golden Age and highly revered and respected before the government became corrupt. With the fall of the government, bots who wanted power started to kill of telepaths or enslave them. Telepaths were known as priests of Primus and were closely connected to Primus and were called Oracles. They were prophets and the corrupt members of Cybertron's government saw them as a threat. With the arrival of Wing Saber and Bladestream, Soundwave will rekindle the ways of the Oracles.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 _For humans, the reading of minds is demonic. It opens up doors for Satan and his fallen angels to enter the human mind. And it is mostly guesses._

 _For a prophet of God, that's another matter entirely. God tells his prophets what He's gonna do before he does it. When someone gives another person a prophesy, God tells the prophet what to say and the prophet says it. Sometimes prophets get it wrong or their flesh gets in the way and filters what they're hearing from God. The closer the prophet is to God, the more accurate the message. Sometimes the prophesy is for the future, sometimes it is a warning or a foretelling of punishment, but more often than not prophesy is for encouragement and comfort for the now._

 _My siblings and are all prophets. My mother has been attacked spiritually so much because she was raising 5 prophets._

 _All my siblings get words from the Lord for people all the time. I don't … at least not in the same way. God's voice to me has always been quiet, from His spirit to mine. If I ever get "words of knowledge", I just feel a pressing need to speak and often I believe it is my own thoughts until the words come out._

 _How do I prophesy? I paint. I paint painting for people. I can sense who they are, where they are at, and what they need. Then I paint for them a painting that speaks life and encouragement._

 _What is weird, is that here on Cybertron, it is easier to tell when someone is moving (or speaking) in line with God's word. Our optics turn gold. I never noticed it until people kept pointing it out. Apparently, there is more to the prophetic than just spitting out prophesies._

 _Back onto telepathy, it is possible for Cybertronians to be telepaths. Most telepaths served as prophets. Telepaths can read the processors of other bots, whether they want to or not. It is not a matter of choice. With time and practice, they can filter out which processors they pay attention to and which ones they ignore._

 _Now that I think about it, Bladestream has received many shocked looks when he has responded to a look or question or comment that no one ever spoke._

 _I usually say nothing, instead I ponder over what I feel in the atmosphere. I don't speak much unless I feel I need to._

 _I can handle most emotions, but I still haven't figured out handle certain ones yet._

 _Hopefully I can find a way handle them soon, 'cause some of Jazz's crew are driving me insane …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

The blare of an alarm caused Wing Saber to jolt out of recharge. Small red rotating lights flashed in the corners of her quarters.

 _Decepticons!_ Wing Saber thought. She leaped out of her berth and hit the panel on the wall near the door so it would open before it could sense her presence. She saw Chromia leave the suite and the doors slide shut behind her. Wing Saber ran after her.

Wing Saber ran down the hall and eventually caught up with the silver femme.

"Chromia!" she called.

Chromia slowed slightly and looked over shoulder.

"What's going on?"

"Some of our spies are returning from a mission and they got spotted. One of them has sent out a distress signal and we are heading out to provide back up. You and your siblings must stay here."

"Can we help out in any way?" Wing Saber asked.

"Tell Stardust to head for the medbay. If there are any injured bots, Ratchet will probably use this as a teaching moment. The rest of you, go to the control room with Prowl."

"Done." Wing Saber replied and headed down another hall to find her family.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Bluestreak had taken Stardust to the quarters he shared with a bot called Mirage. Mirage was a spy apart of Jazz's team and was a master of stealth. He was a good friend of the young Praxian.

Bluestreak lead Stardust to his berth and pulled out a box from underneath it. He placed the box on the berth and took the lid off.

Stardust gasped as she gazed inside. There were crystals of varying shapes and colors. Some crystals were as large as her arm and others were no more than a digit tall. Some had only one color and other seemed to change color either on their own or upon how the light hit it.

"Wing Saber would love these!" Stardust cried. "She would like the small ones the best! Can I tell her to come here?"

Bluestreak beamed. "Sure! Just don't tell Mirage. He'll try to get her in here for other reasons."

Stardust didn't need to be told twice. She reached out through the sibling bond and found out that she was recharging. Her wings fell.

"What is it?" Bluestreak asked worriedly.

"She's in recharge. We will have to wait."

As soon as Stardust finished her sentence, alarms began to blare throughout the base.

Bluestreak shrugged. "She won't be for long now." He said. Wing Saber was a light sleeper. Always had been so the alarms were bound to wake her up.

Bluestreak closed the box, placed it back under the berth, and picked up his rifle that was leaning against a desk.

"All available Autobots must go to fight. You can stay here if you want, but it would be safer in the control room with Prowl."

"Okay." said Stardust as Bluestreak ran out the door.

It wasn't long before Wing Saber prodded Stardust's spark.

 **: Stardust, where are you? :**

 **: In Bluestreak's quarters, why? :**

 **: Chromia said you might what to go to the medbay to help Ratchet. The rest of us will be in the control room with Prowl. :**

 **: Oky-doky! :** Stardust replied before heading for the medbay.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber contacted her brothers and Wind Dancer and told them to get to the control room. Bladestream was already there with Prowl while Jetstorm and Wind Dancer were on their way. They all semi-closed their bonds with her.

Wing Saber understood why, though. She never could control her end of the bond. Everybody else could and her siblings often didn't want to feel _everything_ she felt. And she was fine with that.

Wing Saber came to an abrupt halt. She sensed something strange. She didn't feel it through her gut, field, or spark. Instead, she felt it in her helm. It was a beckoning, a calling almost.

She fanned her wings to try to gauge where this feeling was coming from. But she couldn't detect anything.

She expended her field, looking for anything her wings may have missed. Nothing.

Wing Saber felt a little light headed as the prodding then narrowed down and pinpointed to a single location. She focused on the prodding. The base roof, on the western side.

Again, something called to her, beckoning her to follow. Unsure, she stayed where she was, trying to study the new feeling. The prodding seemed to try to soothe her processor and call to her again.

Still, she remained where she was. Curiosity said follow, but caution won out. She was not going anywhere … not right now.

There was a sadness in the feeling and she felt a brush of understanding before the touch to her mind disappeared.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Something brushed against his psyche as he listened to the battle with Prowl over the comms. Bladestream turned towards the origin and saw nothing. He looked around the room for its source, but all he saw were computers, the mechs manning the machinery, Prowl and his family.

Again, he felt something brush against his mind. He focused his concentration on it.

" _Come,"_ Bladestream felt this word echo through is mind as he tried to locate the source.

 _What_ _ **was**_ _this?_ Bladestream wondered.

" _Come,_ " the brush said again and the brush gave its location. For a split second, Bladestream saw the roof of the base. From the angle of the vision, he could tell the area was on the western side of the base. But why did whatever this was want him to go there?

The comm came to life with Optimus's voice. _**:: Prowl, send a ground bridge. The Decepticons are retreating. ::**_

 _ **:: Any injured, Optimus? ::**_ Ratchet asked.

 _ **:: Only minor injuries, old friend. No casualties. ::**_ Optimus said, relief prominent in his voice.

 _ **:: Thank Primus! ::**_ Ratchet breathed.

" _Farewell, young one._ " The voice said, brushing against Bladestream's mind and then it was gone.

Bladestream was highly bothered by what just took place. Who was that?

Bladestream then noticed Wing Saber was not present. He opened his bond with her and noticed she had not gone very far from her last location. She was a bit cautious and confused. Had she felt the same thing?

He'd have to ask her later. He was going to talk to Prowl about the battle.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Stardust quickly wiped down the medberths with a sterilizing cloth. The injured bots would be coming in any klik now. The ground bridge had been opened and the Bots were returning. Thankfully, none of the injuries were serious or life threatening. Bots should be fast in, fast out.

As bots came in, she noticed that Bluestreak wasn't among the injured, which was a relief to her. There were a couple new bots who she didn't recognize. There was a candy apple red mech and a dark green mech. The dark green bot looked at her and then to Ratchet.

"What is she doing here, Ratchet?" the green bot asked.

Ratchet scowled at him. "Stardust is helping me. She is a neutral learning to become a medic.

"Stardust, get me a cloth."

Stardust went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a few cleaning cloths that Ratchet used to clean of energon. She brought them to Ratchet and handed them to him. Her took one and began to clean off the energon on the new red mech's arm. The red mech stared at Stardust, looking up and down her frame. Stardust blushed and fidgeted under his gaze.

Ratchet frowned and wacked the mech's helm with a wrench.

The red mech winced and reached up to hold his helm.

"Quit ogling, Mirage! She's not of age!" Ratchet shouted.

The green mech's optics brightened. "How old are you, youngling?" he asked.

Stardust had to think for a nanoklik before answering. She had to remember what Ratchet told her to tell bots if they asked her age. "About 200 meta-cycles."

The optics of the green mech got huge. "You're just out of the weaning stage! Where's your creators?"

Stardust looked at her pedes. _My creators are dead_ , she though glumly.

Ratchet spoke for her, "We have no knowledge on the whereabouts of her creators. She was sparked and raised on a far off colony of neutrals. Shockwave kidnapped her and her siblings to be made into Decepticons. They managed to escape before much damage could be done." Ratchet transformed his servo into a torch to weld the gash on Mirage's arm.

The green mech looked at Stardust sympathetically. Most Bots would not wish Shockwave on their greatest enemy. He just hoped that Shockwave hadn't traumatized the young femme too badly.

Ratchet and Stardust quickly repaired all bots in the medbay. Ratchet dented some helms for being reckless before sending bot to their quarters. He let Stardust resume whatever she had been doing before the alarms.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Stardust commed Bluestreak to ask where he was and Bluestreak told her that he was in the rec room watching Jetstorm and Warpath play games on the holoscreen. As Stardust made her way down there, the dark green mech from the medbay called out to her.

"Stardust, wait!"

She slowed her pace so the taller mech could catch up.

"Where'ya going?" he asked.

"Rec room. I'm meeting up with Bluestreak, why?"

"I need some energon. Mind if I join you?"

Stardust shrugged. "Okay." she said with a smile.

The two walked down the halls for a while before the awkwardly told Stardust his designation, Hound. Hound usually functioned as a scout unless Mirage was called out to spy on the Cons. Only then would he function as a spy and would go with Mirage.

As Hound was telling her all this, the two entered the rec room and Stardust froze. Mirage was at the energon dispenser, leaning against the counters, trying to get Wing Saber to talk to him, but her sister was ignoring him. If the bond was anything to go by, Wing Saber was being patient with the flirty mech, but was starting to loose it. Her patience with flirtatious mechs had been worn thin. If she didn't end up punching the mech, Bladestream would. Or at the very least, scare him.

Hound signed sadly. "Not a joor back on base and he's back at it."

Stardust didn't have time to ask for clarification before there was a clang of metal and a sharp "ow!" from Mirage. Stardust smirked as Mirage doubled over with Wing Saber walking away with a cube of energon. Apparently, she elbowed him in the gut and was quite proud of herself. With her wings high, she walked out of the re room headed for the offices.

Hound walked over to his friend and patted him on the back plates. "Better luck next time, Mirage." He said as he went to grab a cube of his own.

Mirage regained control of his vents and looked longingly after Wing Saber. Mirage may want Wing Saber now, but it likely wouldn't last. Stardust felt like he wasn't the one for her sister. Her mother had always said that you would know when the right one for you came along. Now that she and her family could _feel_ each other's spirits, she could look a little more closely at their feelings. Wing Saber's spark didn't like this mech any more than the others. He wasn't the one.

Out of the corner of her optic, she saw Bluestreak waving to her. With a wide grin, she bounded over to him.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber balanced the cube on her bound arm and pushed open the door to Optimus's office a little. Unlike most doors on base, the doors of the offices could either slide into the wall or open like the doors of most houses back on Earth. Optimus preferred to have his office door open like this so that he could shut it partially if he needed some privacy while still being available for his soldiers if they needed him.

"Optimus?" she called softly as not to startle him.

The cherry red and royal blue mech was too engrossed in the datapad he held to hear her.

 _Okay …_ she thought. she pushed the door open further and walked over to his desk. She tried to get his attention be touching his field with hers. No response.

 _No wonder Ratchet gets frustrated with him. He gives his work almost too much dedication._

She took the cube off her bound arm and stuck it between him and the datapad.

His optics flashed and shuttered a few times before looking up at her.

"I thought you'd appreciate Ratchet _not_ coming in here 'cause you forgot to refuel again." Wing Saber said, her voice laced with humor.

Optimus smirked, his optics shining with a bit of gratitude, "Yes, thank you." He said, taking the cube and putting the datapad down on the desk.

"What'cha readin'?" Wing Saber asked.

Optimus lowered his cube a second. "Mirage's report. *sips from cube* Megatron is building a new weapon. Some type of canon. He mentions that Starscream wasn't happy with Megatron for what he did to you."

"Seeker programing?" Wing Saber guessed.

"For once. He ignores it most of the time." Optimus finished the cube and sat it on the desk. "Only Primus knows what Megatron plans to do with that weapon," he said, gravely, "The Cons have been quiet for too long."

Wing Saber frowned. "You _do_ know that Primus is not a god, right?"

Optimus looked at her in shock.

"A deity, yes … but not a god. A true God cannot be physically harmed. A true God knows all there is about all that has existed in the past, present, and future. A true God has no beginning or end. Primus, by nature, was created."

The young Prime turned his chair to face her. "Not many understand this. Ancient texts say that Primus was created by the Ones, but no one knows Who They are or how many of Them are out there. They came Primus the ability to create Cybertron and its inhabitants."

Something stirred in Wing Saber's gut and spark. She thought for a moment before speaking.

"What if a told you that I know Who the Ones are and how many?"

Optimus stared at her. "That's … that's impossible! No one knows who the Ones are, or Their nature."

"I do. My siblings do. My creators do. My creators' spirits are with Them as we speak. My entire race was created after Their image. One of the Ones put His "Godhood" aside and downed human flesh to save the very race that turned away from him. I know Him personally. Many on my planet do."

Optimus searched her optics, her field for any sign of a lie. Not even Alpha Trion knew of the Ones beyond Their name. Wing Saber was telling him the truth.

His curiosity got the better of him. "Who are They?" he asked, almost afraid to bring it up.

"They are God. They are a Trinity. They created the universe and all that is in it. They are called Yahweh, Yeshua; his Son, and the Holy Spirit; who is the Spirit of God."

Optimus felt a heavy presence enter the room at the sound of the names. His spark quivered a bit in fear at the sound of the names of the Ones. With the presence, Wing Saber's optics turned gold.

"They are three, but are one. One God, three persons. Not one is above the other. They have always existed.

"In the time before the beginning, there was only the Ones. They were all that was, all that existed. Yahweh is a creator by nature. He decided to create the universe and everything in it. Over six human orns, He created it, saving humankind for last as He wanted someone to fellowship with Him and serve as a mate for His Son. Everything He had made was perfect. He rested on the seventh orn.

"Keep in mind this is Earth orns. Thirty of them go by for one of Cybertron's."

Optimus nodded.

Wing Saber's face plates darkened. "But the perfect world the Ones created wasn't going to last.

"Among Yahweh's creation was a race of angels; messengers, warriors, and worshippers. The leader of all the angels was an angel named Lucifer. He led the angels in worship to the Ones. His very _body_ had musical instruments of all kinds built into him. Every time he moved, sound came out of him. He was truly the most beautiful of all Yahweh's creations.

"And he knew it all too well. He became filled with pride every time he looked out across creation. Then he would look to the Ones and see that the Ones were more beautiful than he was. And it angered him."

Optimus interrupted, "But the Ones were the only thing more beautiful, right? Why wasn't he satisfied with that?"

"Because he wasn't more splendorous than They were. Simple as that. He wanted to become like the Ones, or better yet, be above them and be God himself. Once he decided this in his spark, the Ones could not allow him to stay in heaven."

Optimus looked puzzled. Wing Saber explained, "Heaven is where the Ones dwell. Them and the souls of the humans who have had a relationship with Them and have committed their lives to the Ones. The angels also lived there.

"Lucifer lived there until there was evil is his spark. Once Lucifer sinned in his spark, the Ones cast him from the heavens along with one third of the angels. These angels who followed Lucifer became known as fallen angels or evil spirits. Lucifer became known, in my language, as Satan and he became their king. The Ones made a prison for them is the very core of my planet, but they could still go to and fro throughout the universe. They just could not return to heaven.

"Satan grew to hate everything Yahweh had made. What made it worse, was that humans looked identical to Him. Satan set out to corrupt and destroy mankind and all that Yahweh had created.

"It worked. Man fell. Fallen angels also mated with human females, creating a race of hybrid giants we call the Nephilim. Like humans, angels, and fallen angels, the Nephilim had spirits, too. But because they were hybrids, they could not enter heaven. They didn't want to go to Hell, the prison for the fallen angels, either. So they chose to wander the surface of my planet and their spirits are now called demons.

"Soon there wasn't a single human left on the planet who loved or served the Ones. All had either been killed, turned, or had tainted genetics. Yahweh was sorry he had made humans and destroyed all life with a global flood. Then He started over."

Optimus listened intensely to the accounts of this world the Ones were so close to like sparkling listening to a story told by its creators. He had a sinking feeling that history would repeat itself with the second race of humans.

Wing Saber sighed. "But Satan destroyed this batch too. Yahweh then chose to create a secluded garden and make man out of the dust of the ground there. He then took a rib from the male and made a female. Once again, life was perfect. He had one rule; to not eat from a certain tree. If they did, they would die; both spiritually and physically.

"Satan took the form of a snake and tempted the female to eat of the tree. She did and gave some to the male. They died spiritually. Their souls forever tainted.

"Then where Yahweh called out to them and they hid, they lied to him and he had to kick them out of the perfect garden. He performed the first of many animal sacrifices. The blood, life force, of the innocent animal would cover the crimes the humans had committed against the Ones. But it was only temporary.

"The next time either one sinned again, another sacrifice had to be made."

Wing Saber took a datapad and stylus and drew a sheep and a lamb and gave it to Optimus. She pointed to the sheep. "This is a sheep. This here," she said pointing to the lamb, "is its sparkling. When a lamb is an orbital cycle old, it can be examined for broken bones or blemishes. Only the life force of a perfect, spotless lamb could erase that human's sins.

"Hundreds of orbital cycles went by and Satan continued to wipe the purebreds off the face of the planet. And it nearly worked again. There were only eight purebreds left still loyal to the Ones.

"Yahweh was again sorry he made humans. But He didn't destroy them all this time. The eldest of the purebreds, called Noah, was instructed to build a box-like boat for him, his mate, their sons and their mates, two of every animal they were told not to eat and seven of every animal they were allowed to eat."

Optimus held up a servo. "Wait a klik. _Humans_ used _animals_ to refuel themselves?" he asked, a look of worry crossing his face. He honestly looked more than a little grossed out.

Wing Saber giggled. "Most all organic sentients must consume _some_ amount of flesh, Orion, although their main diet is plants. Our protoforms also required water on an ornly basis to survive."

Optimus froze. "Why did you call me that?" he whispered.

"Because that is who you still are. No matter who you become, there will a part of you that will always be Orion Pax."

He dipped his helm in thought. Wing Saber waited for him to look up. After a good klik, he tentatively asked, "What happened to the purebreds?"

"Well, their neighbors mocked them for building a boat that took nearly 100 human orbital cycles for the purebreds to complete. Noah warned again and again that the Ones would send rain, rain that would cover the entire world.

"Rain was a foreign concept to humans at that time. They also never saw their sun for a thick layer of clouds protected the planet from the harmful heat of the sun. Instead of rain, a mist would rise from the ground and the plants were watered that way.

"That would soon change. Once Noah had loaded his family, the animals, and the food to sustain them all until the waters receded, the Ones sent the rain. The rain did not stop for forty orns. They remained afloat for nearly an orbital cycle before the water receded enough for the boat to land itself on a mountain and they stayed there even longer until they could walk on dry land.

"Once they landed, Noah offered the Ones a burnt sacrifice. Yahweh promised to never again destroy life on the planet with a global flood and place a rainbow in the sky to symbolize that promise.

"But humans still had a problem. Many still fell away from the Ones and their souls were still imperfect. Satan still had a death grip on the humans and it was tearing the Ones apart. Something had to be done.

"Yahweh had a plan. After a several millennia, the Son was asked to become a human and suffer the worst pain imaginable in that time. Instead of a lamb sacrificed that year for the sins of the chosen people, Yeshua would be sacrificed. The Holy Spirit would take Yeshua, get a virgin female sparked with Yeshua, and Yeshua would grow up to be killed and pay for the sins of the entire world and all who were born after.

"The thing was, the souls of the humans who turned from the Ones and died before becoming a part of the chosen group who were pure went to Hell. They were imperfect. The Ones are perfect and holy. Imperfection cannot dwell with them.

"As the One to pay the price for humans, Yeshua's spirit had to go to Hell once it became imperfect.

"The good news is, His spirit was only tainted, not corrupt. He was still God. Because He was God, he was able to defeat Satan and take from him the keys to death and Hell. Death no longer had power over his people. Three orns later, Yeshua rose from the dead.

"Satan was furious. By killing Yeshua, he succeeded only in bringing about his own defeat.

"It was good news for the humans, though. The long told prophesies of the one called Messiah had come to pass. If they confessed that they believed and accepted what Yeshua had done for them, turned from their evil ways and whole heartedly sought the Ones, their souls would be saved. And when they offlined, their souls would return to their creator instead of Hell.

Wing Saber looked down, her wings drooping. "Sadly, many humans reject Yeshua. And there are groups of humans that will stop at nothing to see the followers of the Ones destroyed. The chosen humans, called Jews, and the followers of Yeshua all much stand firm in their beliefs and cling to the Ones.

"Sometimes, it seems that the worst thing the Ones could have given us, was our free will. But I'm glad they did, even though they knew people would turn and betray them."

"There is more to this story?" Optimus asked. "I don't think you told me the whole thing."

"I didn't. I only gave you the short version." Wing Saber pause and looked away for a nanoklik. "But how I went from telling you about the Ones to telling you about the history of my planet is beyond me."

Optimus smiled. "I greatly enjoyed hearing about your world anyway. Perhaps," he hesitated, "perhaps … you can tell me more about it?" curiosity shining in his optics.

Wing Saber chuckled inwardly. He was still the ever curious data clerk. "Sure." She said. "I don't mind that. Bladestream can also answer any questions you might have." She stood up. "I'm gonna head to the training room. Need ta keep up my skills."

Optimus nodded as the femme left his office. She gently shut the door behind her, her optics had long since returned to their deep blue.

He sat back in his chair, lost in thought. Her race had known the Ones who created Primus intimately. Now these younglings had information that has never been in the servos of his race before. His spark was eager to learn of Them.

There was a thought in the back of his processor; maybe this Erie wasn't kidnapped, but sent to Cybertron instead.

He would think about it later. He had work to do. He looked at the stack of datapads on his left that he still had to do. He had barely made a dent in it. His shoulders sagged. It was going to be a long orn before all of it was done.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 **Ok. Another chapter. No flames please. If you have to comment on the content of this chapter, PM me, don't post a review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**There is another song in here. Again, I'd appreciate it if you'd listen to it when it come up. When the song starts, you'll see this symbol; (**). This is the song title:**

 _ **Voices**_ **– Michael W. Smith**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

 **Also, if you see this mark (^), it means some of the following content in between these marks is not mine. If I could remember where I got it from, I'd cite it, but I have no clue where I read it. If any of you recognize any of this content as yours, PM me who you are and what story it's from and I'll put credit where credit is due** **3.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

* * *

 _Like any other girl out there, I like flowers. I always have. When I was little, my mother would always call me her flower girl. Back home, I would take care of the flowerbed and the trees. I would also take care of the lawn as long as I didn't have to operate the lawn mower._

 _I loved the spring time when most flowers bloomed. To me, the spring season didn't start until the bluebonnets bloomed. I loved it when my family would drive down the highways with the windows rolled down at the peak of the bluebonnet season._

 _One thing I regret, is not taking my dog out to a bluebonnet field and take pictures of her with them._

 _My mother liked lilacs. I bought her several different colors and planted them in pots in case we moved to a larger house … only to lose half of them over the winter. Had to buy her new ones._

 _I wonder what kind of plants grow on Cybertron? I know they like to grow crystals, but what do the crystals look like? What different kinds are there? Maybe someone would be willing to show me the plant life. Maybe, since I am a neutral, I can collect some and plant a garden for the Autobots to enjoy._

 _Or maybe … I could plant a place for both Bots and Cons?_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

When Wing Saber entered the training room, there wasn't anyone else in there. Good. She could train alone. Most Seekers loved attention, but Wing Saber tried to avoid the spotlight at all costs. She learned quickly when bots trained and when most didn't. She preferred to have the training room all to herself.

When Wing Saber trained, she trained to music. Wing Saber's spark was always singing, so training matched the music. Her moves often looked like an elaborate dance.

Wing Saber crossed the training room to the far wall where bots often sparred and stood in front of the melee weapons. Ratchet had offlined her weapons systems until the brace came off, so she couldn't train with her new swords. Her siblings had shown her their memories of her new swords and what had happened during the battle outside Autobot territory, for she did not remember anything from after they got hit with the energy beam.

She looked over the swords and chose one whose blade was a little long and the handle was wrapped in thin leather. She pulled it out of the wrack and swung it around, testing its weight.

Satisfied, she went to stand in the center of one of the sparring arenas. She held the sword at her side. She closed her optics and let her vents even out. She searched her spark for a song for this moment. Finding it, she twisted her chassis, bending her left stabilizer and sending the right one back. She brought the sword level with her shoulders rotating it so the flat side was parallel to the ground. ******

Wing Saber stood there as the opening music played in her spark. When the instrumental chorus began, she gracefully spun with the sword, slicing at invisible enemies. Her pedes touched the ground in time with the beat and her wings rose and fell with it as well, communicating to an invisible audience the implied and hidden of the words. She sang the words echoing through her being.

 _* Follow the footsteps, or travel down your own road … *_

She held the sword in line with her shoulders again, taking a few steps forward, striking the air before turning and backing up, her sword held out behind her.

 _* Designing your fate … *_

She brought the sword up to block her face, her wings high with confidence.

 _* Hear what your hear says, still you decide which way to go … *_

She took a few steps forwards, spun and cut the air with a few swings of her sword, moving her way into a corner.

 _* Oh, your life's an open gate *_

She turned the sword in a fancy spin, bringing the sword back in front of her face at the last two words. With the start of the chorus, she ignited her thrusters, soaring above the sparring ring and began to execute various moves from martial arts movies she had seen on Earth.

 _* 'La bon at 'le mal … *_

 _* These are the voices … *_

 _* We nous somme liberti' … *_

 _* We make the choices *_

She landed back in the center of the ring and imitated the fighting styles she had seen it the game Bladestream often played called _Kingdom Hearts_.

 _* Echoes of laughter, dancing in distant corridors … *_

 _* With the tear of hearts undone … *_

She struck at invisible enemies, imagining their numbers, keeping her wings out of the way so that they didn't become a liability.

 _* Dreams we chase after, give us the key to any door … *_

 _* Oh, we are what we become *_

Once again, she took to the air, rising and falling with the rhythm of the music of the chorus.

 _* 'La bon at 'le mal … *_

 _* These are the voices … *_

 _* We nous somme liberti' … *_

 _* We make the choices *_

She landed once more, her imaginary battle drawing to its climax, the training room had all but disappeared some time ago.

What she didn't know, was that she really did have an audience.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Bluestreak and Stardust had finally managed to track Wing Saber down and found her in the training room. The two had watched Wing Saber train upon occasion, but made sure they weren't discovered by the blue Seeker.

Stardust liked to watch her sister train. Wing Saber never danced and the way she executed each move made it look like she was. The large empty room and its equipment caused her voice to echo off the wall, making its own music to match Wing Saber's words.

"I still can't believe how pretty her voice is!" Bluestreak breathed. "The twins would love to hear it!"

"The twins?" Stardust asked, puzzled.

"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. They are split-spark twins. They helped take care of me after Praxus was destroyed," Bluestreak's optics darkened upon mentioning his former home, "They hate Seekers, but Sideswipe likes to spend time with femmes. Sunstreaker doesn't socialize much. I know they'd like you and your family, though." he said, his wings fluttering happily.

Stardust knew what split-spark twins were. Dreadwing and Skyquake were split-spark twins. They had imprinted Wing Saber when she had her first heat cycle so that she could reproduce. Those two had helped Stardust's family tremendously.

Stardust looked back at her sister who had finished her routine. Stardust ducked behind the wall and slowly let her field unfurl to give the illusion of her and Bluestreak approaching. She didn't want Wing Saber to know they were watching.

Wing Saber detected them later than she usually did and by the time they "rounded the corner", Wing Saber was looking at the doorway.

Stardust looked at Bluestreak and nodded towards her sister. Bluestreak suddenly became a little shy as he looked at Wing Saber.

"Hi … um … I, uh … I have something for you … in my quarters. Stardust has already seen it. Would you come with us? I don't want others to see it …" said Bluestreak nervously.

Wing Saber liked Bluestreak. He was close to Stardust in mental age and a good friend to her.

"Sure, just let me put this away first." Wing Saber said as she walked over to the weapons rack. She returned the sword to its place on the rack and followed the two bots back to Bluestreak's quarters.

Bluestreak's giddiness was almost contagious as he keyed in the code for the door to his quarters. The door slide back and Bluestreak bounded to what was probably him berth and bent down to pull out a box from underneath it. He placed the box on his berth and took the lid off as Stardust waved her over.

Curiosity got the better of her as she peeked inside the box. Her optics widened as she looked upon its contents. _Crystals_. Crystals of many different sizes and colors. Most alternated between one or two hues of a single color. Others had several different colors, some had darker hues and others had lighter ones. And they all sang, just like the ones back in the desert in the underground cave.

"Pick one."

"Huh?" Wing Saber said, turning to Bluestreak.

"Pick one," he repeated, "Seekers and Praxians love crystals. Praxus had an amazing crystal garden. These are some of the ones from that garden when it was destroyed. You can have one and I'll teach you how to grow it." His doorwings fluttered in excitement.

Wing Saber was elated. She knew of the bombing of Praxus. Bluestreak had been the lone survivor. The fact that he was sharing something so precious was an honor.

She looked to the box again. She tried to look through the crystals, but it was difficult with only one servo. "Uh, Bluestreak, could you … uh,"

Bluestreak got what she was trying to say. "Sure," he said and slowly dumped the contents on the berth. The crystals tinkled like wind chimes as they tumbled onto the berth.

Now Wing Saber could hear their individual songs more clearly. The crystals' colors changed in time with their songs. Wing Saber's servo hovered over each crystal, looking for the perfect one. She finally spotted one that resembled a deep blue opal. Deep ocean blue, violet purple, and bright emerald green were the colors of the crystal only a digit tall and two digits wide. This one changed its colors very little and instead changed colors depending on the angle of the light hitting it. Its song was gentle like a waterfall in the middle of a calm forest. Its song was soothing to her audios.

"Can I keep this one?" she asked.

"Sure! Just let me find … *kneels down to search under the berth* … find a planter." He searched through the stuff under the berth and his words were a little difficult to separate from the clatter of things.

Wing Saber looked at the crystal again and its song filled her audios. Bluestreak popped back up with a small planter box. "You can get soil from outside and after that, just place the crystal in the soil so that one third of it is buried. Then you just add enough energon to it to keep the soil moist. It will do the rest. I was saving these for when the war ends so that we could restore the Crystal Gardens."

"I am thankful that you are sharing it with me, Blue. Maybe we all can help restore the gardens of Cybertron." Wing Saber thought for a nanoklik. "Or … we can start a garden here for the Autobots. We don't need to use your crystals. I brought some crystals from the underground cave in the desert. In the cave was an energon river and crystals grew by the river. We can use those instead."

"But where would we plant this garden?" Stardust asked. "Most of the territory is covered in ruined debris!"

"We can start planting the crystals in my quarters until they grow big enough and start to multiply. Once we have enough, we can start planning where we put the garden, even if I have to ask for a dome built for it."

Bluestreak's doorwings fluttered and he bounced on his pedes. "Praxus had garden domes where young crystals were raised. We can ask Prowl to build us one!"

Wing Saber held up her servo to calm the overexcited Praxian. "I'm not gonna ask him for resources just yet, Blue. I want to tend to this one first. It has a calmness to it. This one can be the first of many. Thanks, Bluestreak." Said Wing Saber, subspacing the crystal and plantbox.

"You're welcome! I hope it makes you happy!"

Wing Saber smiled. "It does, thanks." She said, leaving his quarters and went to her own to plant and tend to the crystal.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Six joor and a processor ache to rival Megaton later, Optimus was finally done with the datapads and was ready for a cube or ten of high-grade. Cybertron's sun was about to set and he wanted some time to himself on the roof to watch to stars. He hardly had time for it anymore and who knew when he'd get another chance.

^Unicron … or Satan … must be conspiring against him for now there was a single knock on his door. Only Prowl knocked once and it didn't matter whether the door was open or not, he would always knock and get permission to enter.

"It's open, Prowl." Optimus said, straightening the finished stack of datapads. When Prowl entered Optimus's office, he thankfully didn't have anymore datapads for him.

"What can I do for you?" Optimus asked.

"General Counter Punch, stationed at Tagon Heights, has requested an audience with you, sir."

"Did he say why?"

"No, sir. He just said that he would only speak to you."

Optimus nodded. "Put him through on a secure channel. Double encryption."

"Yes, sir." Said Prowl, turning and returning to his office.

Optimus pressed a red button on the side of the desk and a vidscreen popped up from the front of the desk. The Autobot insignia appeared on the screen and blinked a few times before it faded and the face of one of the few Kaonites in the Autobot army appeared. Optimus opened his mouth to greet the mech put the mech on screen burst into a rant.

"You have to do something about those two Pit-spawn, Prime! I don't care _how_ effective or invaluable they are, I want them out of here!" the purple and gray mech shouted, punctuating his words with a wave of his servo.

"Who, General?" the young Prime asked.

"The twins! Sunstreaker and Sideswipe! They have pranked half of them into the medbay and nearly caused Sentinel Prime to glitch! They can't stay here, Prime!"

Optimus was concerned. Taking the twins from Tagon Heights would hinder the war effort in that area. Those twins were exgladiators like Megatron. Their armor was designed to take a punch, making them excellent font line warriors. But Sideswipe's pranks and Sunstreaker's volatile prejudice often made Optimus's commanders reject the twins' help.

Optimus was going to have to bring them back to Iacon. "Alright, send them to the Iacon base. Don't send them by ground bridge. I don't want the Decepticons to think you have that much energon."

"Yes, sir. I hope Ratchet disassembles those two. They should be offlined." With that, the screen went black.

Now, he was going to see Ratchet for this possessor ache and watch the stars. Ratchet will be pleased that he isn't working all night again. He picked up the datapads to deposit in Prowl's office and left, locking his office behind him.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Iacon summers; short lived and warm. Iacon was the north most city-state on Cybertron with Kaon, Voss, and Praxus in the south with the Vosian Sea at the southern pole.

Wing Saber could tell the fall was coming. The wind had a hint of winter's bite in it. To anybody else, it would be just a cool breeze. But Wing Saber could detect the minutest of changes in the wind.

There wasn't much fighting in Iacon right now as the capital was surrounded by other city-states that were a part of the Autobots, so skies were clear of smoke and clouds tonight. Wing Saber saw a few shooting stars streak across the night sky. She sighed. It was lovely out here right now.

The roof vibrated with the descent of the elevator she used to take up here. She felt Optimus at the elevator's door. She turned back to the sky. Even with the smog from the war, she could still see _so many stars_! Her optics could even zoom in on them with these Cybertronian optics. She could faintly see nearby nebulae. She still wished she had a telescope, though.

The elevator had arrived at the roof and opened to let Optimus out. The large red blue mech came and stood by Wing Saber. He, too, looked up into the night sky.

"On my planet, if you stood in a completely remote place where there wasn't a city for miles around, you could see the galaxy's bands of stars. It looked like someone spilt fine glitter across the sky." Wing Saber said, waving her servo across the sky to illustrate what she was talking about.

"I have never seen such a thing. I've lived in Iacon for most of my life cycle and the city lights always seemed to blot out most of the stars."

"Not in the Sea of Rust," Wing Saber said, smiling, "You can see _bands_ of stars as well as Cybertron's lesser moon. Constellations pop out at night there. You should go see it sometime."

"Not any time soon." Optimus said sadly.

Wing Saber felt his field dip. She acutely felt his pain. She looked over the landscape. So much of the city was still intact. There wasn't much that the fighting had destroyed.

Optimus put his servo on her shoulder. "Look over there." He said, pointing southward. She turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

"Do you see that domed building?"

"Mmm-hmm," she nodded.

"That is the Iacon Hall of Records. I used to work there. My teacher, Alpha Trion, still lives there. You can find information on anything you seek in the Hall of Records."

"Even about how to grow crystals?"

Optimus looked down at her, puzzled. "Yes, why?"

"Bluestreak gave me one of his crystal. I want to see if I can use it to make a small garden."

"I believe there would be instructions on growing crystals among the archives. I would recommend checking data from Praxus. Although Crystal City had an impressive crystal garden, Praxus was famous for their studies on crystal formations and they had the most impressive garden on Cybertron. Praxian files would have extensive knowledge on the subject."

"Thanks! Maybe Bladestream and I can go there tomorrow or soon aft-"

"You will not know where to look," he said, cutting her off, "You are a newspark fresh from the Well. Even if your brother went with you, neither one of you know your way around Iacon and there are bad neighborhoods and bots that will take advantage of you two.

"I have some time now. I still have clearance so I can get you in after joor." He said, walking back to the elevator.

Wing Saber's wings shot up in surprise and her optics got huge. "Wait, what?" she spun around to face him.

"If we leave now, we can still be back to take advantage of the recharge cycle. I'll inform Ironhide. If he found out I was leaving the base without his knowledge, I will not hear the end of it. I will meet you in the main hanger at the ground bridge." And with that, he entered the elevator and took it down.

Wing Saber shuttered her optics a few times as she watched felt him descend. _That was unexpected,_ she thought. She turned back to look and the domed Hall in the distance. Maybe she should just insist that she and Bladestream could do it themselves.

But then again, they were still new to the planet … yeah, it may be best to just let Optimus help out. He did seem to want to anyway …

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Optimus wasn't joking about Ironhide preferring to know where Optimus was going, but the Prime had failed to mention that the black mech was going to want to come along as a guard. Ironhide drove behind Optimus and since Wing Saber still couldn't transform, she had to ride atop Optimus's alt mode. The only good thing about it was that her wings could help steer the Prime around sharp turns.

At next to top speed, it didn't take much more than a joor to arrive at the massive round building that was the Hall of Records. Guards were all over the place, but bowed respectfully as their Prime passed by. Optimus nodded to each one, a mite uncomfortable with the respect he was getting.

Wing Saber received glares from most of them, which she ignored. It was a bit harder to ignore the whispers and the hostile fields. Ironhide glared at the offenders and cycled his massive arm canons, causing the rude bots to resume their posts.

Ironhide stayed outside while Optimus took Wing Saber inside. The lobby was _huge_. A flag for each of the city-states was hanging high above their helms. The round room had soft blue, vertical lights climbed from the floor to each flag. At the end of the lobby, there were many elevators. Optimus picked one and it opened for him. The two stepped inside and Wing Saber admired the texture of the walls while Optimus pressed a button on a panel on the wall.

The elevator rose and the walls around it soon became see-through. Wing Saber turned to watch as black screens and corridors trimmed in blue light whizzed past. The elevator soon slowed to a stop and the door opened. Optimus stepped out and Wing Saber followed close behind. He walked down the corridors and eventually entered a doorway.

The room was similar to how a library on Earth might look. There were rows upon rows of dark gray book shelves were lined was datapads of different colors and thicknesses. Optimus stopped by a book shelf and turned to Wing Saber.

"This shelf system has information on the growth and care of Praxian crystals. If you require any assistance, let me know." He said and he went to the center of the room where an orange mech stood in a circular desk. Wing Saber looked through the datapads as the two greeted each other.

It took Wing Saber one and a half joor to find all the info she needed … and she read a good portion of it … and took the datapads to the desk, but didn't see Optimus there. The mech at the desk was unsure of her presence, but he was still pretty nice and pointed down the hall that Optimus had gone down. She when down it and found Optimus looking at a datapad himself.

"Hey," she called, causing him to look up from his reading, "I'm done. We can go now."

Optimus nodded. "Very well." He placed the datapad back on the shelf and led her back out to where Ironhide was waiting.

The group returned to the base where they could go to their quarters for some recharge.

When they arrived, Bladestream was there to greet Wing Saber. He had been looking for her as she typically in recharge by now. He smiled upon seeing his sister.

"Been to the library?" he asked, smirking.

"Oh, shut up." Wing Saber said, giving him a shove and walking off.

The black and silver youngster backed up and flailed exaggeratively into the wall and bounced off the wall, flaying his arms around, trying and failing to hit sister smaller sister who didn't seem to know whether she should laugh or strike him.

Ironhide was bothered though be Bladestream's comment.

 _ **:: Prime, did ya inform anyone that you were taking the femme to the Hall? ::**_

 _ **:: No, why? ::**_

 _ **:: Did Wing Saber say anything? ::**_

 _ **:: Not that I know of … ::**_ Optimus raised an optic ridge at Ironhide.

 _ **:: I want to know how Bladestream knew where we were. ::**_

 _ **:: It is probably their bond, old friend. You yourself share a bond. ::**_ Optimus smiled at the larger black mech.

 _ **:: Yeah, but we can't tell where each other is beyond a certain distance! Somethin' ain't right about this, Prime. ::**_

"Bladestream! Stop! You're making people uncomfortable!" Wing Saber's chuckles were heard farther down the hall as Bladestream continued to act like he had gotten ahold of the twins' fine-grade brew, crackling like a maniac.

"I'm sure there is nothing to worry about, old friend. They are still young. Perhaps they know without consciously knowing."

"They ain't much younger than you, youngling. They could pass off as your younger siblings." Ironhide chuckled, causing the young Prime to uncharacteristically glare at his self-proclaimed body guard.

Ironhide laughed and slapped Optimus on the shoulder. "I'm gonna hit the berth. You should too, before Ratchet gets on yer tailpipe."

Optimus shook his helm as Ironhide headed for his quarters. He chose not to think about what else Ironhide and his mate might be doing tonight besides recharge. Thank Primus their quarters were sound proofed.

He could still hear Wing Saber's shouts echo through the halls. He hoped that he could protect them from Megatron. He had done enough to them.

He decided to check on Ratchet and head to his own berth.

Wing Saber, however, stayed up a few more joor reading up on the care of crystals; designing a large garden within her processor that both factions could enjoy.

* * *

 **Ok. Another chapter. Feedback is appreciated.**

 **The link below is my favorite map of Cybertron at the moment.**

images/search?q=map+of+cybertron&view=detailv2&id=D7EA0810F5CADF261B1F586C2D8F9FD4D6D05B5A&selectedindex=91&ccid=KB2iKEgb&simid=607998109483403791&thid=OIP.M281da228481bb021233e6e83f500f749o0&mode=overlay&first=1


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

* * *

 _I miss the winter holidays spent with my family. We didn't have much money to go around once I was halfway through my teen years. Prices rose and my father's paychecks never rose with it. The lack of presents for her kids tore my mother apart. And sometimes, the best we could do for Thanksgiving was a turkey and a pie. And that was it. I was just happy when I finally found a turkey recipe that tasted the best. We've made it every year since._

 _But here on Cybertron, the eating of flesh was taboo. Sentient life forms here did not need to eat meat like organics do except in the most dire of circumstances. If we are to celebrate Thanksgiving here, I will have to redo the whole menu to accommodate our new frames._

 _I might actually need some help from someone who knows the edible elements on this planet for this task …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

The thermals had formed a warm cocoon around her, her plushy nestled in her arms … arm. Iacon's summer was slowly fading into fall and Wing Saber had been the first to feel it. In a few vorn, other bots not used to Iacon would start to notice the chill. Smaller bots will notice before larger ones who have more mass. In 3 groon's time, Iacon will have its first of many winter storms.

For now, Wing Saber will relish the short warm weather the cold confines her indoors. She was going to enjoy the warmth the blankets provided and the darkness of the room.

Unless someone decides to be absolutely rude and flick on the bright lights. Wing Saber pulled the covers over her helm as Wind Dancer came in and started to shake her awake.

"Wing Saber! Get up! You can get the brace off today!"

While Wing Saber did forget all about that, it could while a little while longer.

"Stop, it can wait." Wing Saber said, her voice box thick with recharge.

"But you've been wanting it off." Her younger sister protested.

"Not at the cost of recharge. And it's 'this orn' not 'today'. Use correct Cybertronian terminology."

The door swooshed open and Chromia's amused field touch the fields of the younger femmes.

"Come on, Wind Dancer, let her 'charge. She'll find Ratchet when she's ready."

A pouty Wind Dancer left the room.

"And you might want to keep an optic on the time, Saber, unless you want Ironhide to rope you in on cleaning guns this orn." Chromia said as she offlined all but one small, dim light on the desk and let the door slide back into place.

Right. Every orn Ironhide and Chromia would systematically clean every gun in their quarters. Every groon, they would clean every weapon in the armory, shooting range, and training room. And Ironhide was notorious for picking bots to drag in on the act. Bladestream and Jetstorm were Ironhide's most frequent victims, but those two usually didn't mind it at all.

Wing Saber only participated the first time and made herself scarce every time after. Cleaning Ironhide's prized weapons required two servos.

She readjusted the blankets and returned to a dreamless recharge.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

"Alright," said Ratchet as he plugged a cable from his wrist into a medical port under an armor plate on Wing Saber's braced arm, "I am going to online the voluntary motor functions of your arm. You might feel some tingling, but you shouldn't feel pain. If you do feel any pain, let me know immediately."

"Okay." Wing Saber said. As long as Ratchet didn't produce any needles, she was more-or-less fine.

She felt him shifting through coding files within her processor. She could feel Ratchet's mind acutely and it unnerved her. She shivered, her field drawing closer to her frame.

" _Shhh, easy, Wing Saber._ " Ratchet said gently, minding his field with hers, placing his right servo on her wing and stroking it to calm the nervous Seeker.

It was even more unnerving to feel Ratchet's voice within her processor, but his touch was a comfort. She tried to steady her vents as she waited for him to finish, grateful that it was just the two of them in here.

Ratchet eventually disconnected and she breathed a sigh of relief. He walked over to the counter to get some tools for the brace.

Her attention was drawn to her arm, which was beginning to tingle just as he said to would. It felt like she had put it to sleep for an extended period of time. She tried to move her digits, but they didn't cooperate very well.

"You will regain most of your range of motion as the orn wears on. Therapy will take care of the rest." Ratchet said upon his return. His field was manipulating hers to keep her calm. Ratchet knew that the femme had a near unhealthy fear of the medbay and his needles, but her liking of him kept her coming around. Her presence never bothered him and he sometimes missed it when she was off doing something else.

She tensed as he neared. He loosened the brace and soon had it removed. He placed the brace on a table he had pulled up from somewhere and began to take off Wing Saber's shoulder armor so he could access the protoform underneath. Wing Saber looked at her shoulder and saw a pale, barely there, thin line that was at least as long as her servo was wide. Megatron's arm blade had to have been quite huge to leave this kind of a mark.

Ratchet looked at the metal flesh around the scar and seemed satisfied with its appearance. He nodded and removed his servos. "Try rotating it." He said, pulling a scanner from his subspace.

She looked at her shoulder and noticed that the tingling had vanished. Gingerly at first, she began to test its movement. She rotated it around in large circles, flexed it back and forth, and tested the movement of her elbow, wrist, and the flexibility of her servo. She couldn't fully rotate the shoulder, there was some resistance to the movements.

"There's some resistance, I don't know how well I can lift a sword, though." She said.

"Some stiffness is normal and as I said earlier, you will likely regain full range of motion as the orn wears on. I will give you a datapad with exercises on it that I will require you to do every orn to rebuild muscle cables. If all goes well, you can return to training in a vorn." He said turning his back to her and going over to a computer on the far right end on the counter.

Wing Saber was about to thank him when what he just said sunk in. "Wait, are you saying I can't train for a whole vorn?"

"Yes, because if I don't, you might strain it before it is ready for such strenuous activity. I've seen how you and your Erie trains. I was given a report from Razorblade about what kind of training Quickstrike put you through. I don't want you doing that just yet. Light training only until further notice. If you can't do it in your personal chambers, don't do it."

Wing Saber sighed.

"Believe me," Ratchet continued, "you'll be surprised at how limiting a weakened joint is. You have time now to accommodate such an injury when you didn't before. You'll live."

Wing Saber saw through the detached façade. She had become a bot under his care and he took great care of his patients. His mannerisms were a way of concealing his fear of losing someone.

"Thanks, Ratchet." She said. He grunted and handed her a datapad. She subspaced it, deciding to read it late, and left the medbay.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Ironhide took a rifle down from its rack near the ceiling and handed it to Jetstorm. The youngling begrudgingly took the rifle and sat back down at the table to clean it.

Ironhide had disrupted the youngling's plans that orn to play with Warpath by making him clean the guns in Ironhide's quarters. And Jetstorm was not happy about it.

Bladestream, on the other servo, was quite thrilled about the guns. All though, Ironhide believed the fledgling just wanted an excuse to take them apart to see how they worked. The mech was currently working on a cannon that had gone "kaput", as Wing Saber would say, and Bladestream was examining it. Ironhide had told the fledgling that Ironhide himself had taken that thing apart several times and it just didn't work anymore. Bladestream insisted on looking at it and had been sitting there for half a joor now, his wing flittering every now and then, but were otherwise tense in concentration.

"Done." Jetstorm said, bringing the gun to Ironhide and turning to get another one.

Ironhide inspected it and soon found that the youngling had done a lousy job. Only the obvious places were clean. All the little nooks and crannies were still dirty.

"Jetstorm, come 'ere."

Jetstorm groaned, tipping his helm to the ceiling. "What?" he half whined.

"Come 'ere." Ironhide repeated.

Jetstorm crossed his arms. "I don't have to."

 _Stubborn youngling_ , Ironhide thought. This wasn't going to end well.

The last time he and Jetstorm had a confrontation was about two vorn after the younglings came under his and Chromia's care. Ironhide knew the youngling wanted a fight and was more than willing to him is aft, but Chromia quickly pointed out that he had an audience. Jetstorm's siblings were watching. They were watching to see how Ironhide would handle their brother. Ironhide let Jetstorm make the first move, but the mechling was stubborn. Soon it was clear that Ironhide was going to have to physically make the youngling move. And it was what Jetstorm was looking for and he began to attack Ironhide. Ironhide quickly put the youngling on his knees and pinned his arms so he couldn't use his weapons. Jetstorm eventually surrendered … after 2 joor of struggling and shouting. Ironhide gained a level of respect out of the others due to how he handled the young mech.

Jetstorm had had a spat with Bladestream earlier and it too, led to a physical fight. Bladestream didn't draw any weapon, but Jetstorm did, claiming that Bladestream was trying to kill him for putting him in a head lock. Chromia had split that one up before Wing Saber could get involved. The femme couldn't handle the fighting. Matriarch protocols demanded she break up the fight before the youngling or the patriarch of the Erie got hurt. Those same protocols were on high when Ironhide clashed with Jetstorm. Wing Saber was not built for brawling. Ironhide would have to settle clashes quickly before they escalated to the point Wing Saber felt she had to jump in.

Ironhide could feel Bladestream's gaze on him. Ironhide raised an optic at Jetstorm.

"Come 'ere." He said, motioning the mechling over with a single digit.

Jetstorm rolled his optics and slowly came to Ironhide.

Ironhide showed the gun to Jetstorm. "This here ain't clean."

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not." Ironhide answered firmly.

"Sure it is, I cleaned it! Evidence speaks for itself." Jetstorm said.

"Kid, ya only cleaned da obvious. All da nooks an' crannies are still filthy," Ironhide handed the gun back to the mechling, "Try again. The better ya clean, the sooner you can chase down Warpath."

Jetstorm took the gun and grumbled something Ironhide didn't catch as he sat back down.

Ironhide returned to the couch where he was cleaning guns. He pick up a gun and a cleaning cloth. He glanced over at Bladestream as he worked. Bladestream was deeper in the wiring of the cannon. It would normally take Wheeljack joor before he reacted this point. How long had he been at this again? A joor and a half? Or was it two? Ironhide knew one thing for sure; Bladestream was chewing through that thing too fast.

A breem later, Jetstorm had the gun mostly clean. It wasn't the youngling's best work, but Ironhide would let it go.

"Not bad. Not the best, but it'll do. Remember to always care for yer guns like they're your most prized possessions. A well-oiled gun could mean the difference between joining the Well and livin' ta fight anther cycle."

"I know that." Jetstorm muttered.

Ironhide bristled. This youngling was wearing his patience thin with his back talk.

"What was that?" Ironhide's voice was a little on the cool side.

"I said, 'I know that'!" Jetstorm both raised and deepened his voice, looking in Ironhide's direction, but not giving him optic contact.

Bladestream glanced at his brother out of the corner of his optic. Ironhide had seen Sunstreaker use that look before, though not as gentle or amused, on his twin Sideswipe when the red twin was formulating a prank. It was, more or less, a warning to behave.

Ironhide decided to scare the youngling a bit. He held himself up to his full height, puffing out his chestplates, cycling his cannons, and crossed the floor to where Jetstorm was in a few strides.

"You want to rumble, youngling? 'Cause I can guaranty you it will not be a pleasant or rewarding battle if that is what you choose."

Ironhide was quite a bit taller than Jetstorm and as Jetstorm sized Ironhide up, Ironhide saw the youngling's confidence waver. Jetstorm backed down.

"Good." Ironhide turned his back and returned to the couch. He could still feel a bit of amusement in Bladestream's field as well as detect a hint of relief.

Ironhide knew that Jetstorm's family was scared for his well-being whenever the youngling got into one of these moods. Ironhide would rather be the one Jetstorm aimed his aggression at than most of the other crew members. If the youngling pissed of the wrong bot, it could land him it the medbay in critical condition.

Sometime later, Ironhide noticed Bladestream putting the gun back together, looking pretty happy about his work. What got his attention, was that Bladestream was putting much of the exoskeleton back on _without touching it with his servos._ And the pieces obeyed his command. Bladestream looked like Bumblebee when he got his first set of guns.

Ironhide chose not to say anything and went back to cleaning the rifle on his lap.

Bladestream stood from his chair and flexed his wings a bit before picking up the cannon. "Ironhide?"

The black mech glanced up from his work.

"Can I take this down to the shooting range and test it out?"

"Ya can test it in here. Prowl had these quarters reinforced so that any stray blaster fire doesn't blast holes inta the walls of the neighbors'. Just pick a blank spot."

Bladestream looked doubtful before looking around. He found the only clean spot was the ceiling. He picked a spot and fired.

Jetstorm jumped and Ironhide looked up at the sound of the blast. Ironhide's lower jaw fell open. The cannon was back to working order.

Bladestream gave the gun to Ironhide. The mech was quite pleased with himself.

"It's working now. Next?"

"That was the only thing that was broke. You can start cleaning the guns along the back wall." Ironhide said, gesturing to his left.

Bladestream nodded and took the leftmost gun off the top and took it back to the table, leaving a still shocked Ironhide behind.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber wanted sweets. Chocolate, to be exact. And strawberries. Nutella with strawberries.

Wind Dancer giggled. Wing Saber often had bad cravings right before a heat cycle and her flighty emotions were amusing to the youngling.

Back in the desert, Wing Saber would got down to the energon river and harvest metals and minerals to try to make what she was craving. She didn't know if the Autobots had a kitchen here or not. Energon came from the rec room.

She remembered that sometimes the doctors' offices on Earth would give out candy to toddlers and small kids. Would Ratchet have anything like candy?

She told Wing Saber where she was headed before heading for Ratchet's medbay. Wing Saber sent her a puzzled feeling, wondering why Wind Dancer would be going there. Wind Dancer just told her sister she wanted to ask Ratchet something. Wing Saber sent affection over the bond before watching Bluestreak and one of the minibots playing a game.

Wind Dancer transformed into a glitch mouse and took to the vents. She had memorized the entire ventilation system throughout the base. If Wind Dancer was by herself, these paths tended to be safest. Away from the Seeker aggressive bots.

Wind Dancer arrived at Ratchet's medbay and knowing he didn't like her coming through the vents if the medbay, she left the vents outside the medbay and went through the doors instead.

But when she walked through the doors, Ratchet was nowhere to be seen. Her optics fell on the door in the back that lead to his office. Maybe he was in there?

She weaved around his equipment and knocked on his door. She waiting for his gruff "It's open" before sliding the door open.

Ratchet looked up from the datapad in his servo and his normal glare softened at the sight of the lavender youngling.

"What can I do for you, Wind Dancer?" he asked.

"Do you have any energon goodies by any chance?" she asked, hoping he had some lurking around somewhere.

The red and white medic smiled sadly. "I'm afraid not, little one. There have been no younglings around for a long time, so I haven't restocked my supply. I think Optimus ate my last few rust sticks. He is another reason I don't keep goodies lying around. If I have any, he'll find them."

Wind Dancer smiled at that. Wing Saber had mentioned before that many fanfics said that Optimus had a sweet tooth. It was kinda fun to know it was really true.

"Why do you ask, anyway? Where you wanting some?" Ratchet's attention returned to her.

Wind Dancer tipped her helm to the side and squinted her optic shutters. "While I wouldn't mind some goodies myself, it's Wing Saber who wants them. She wants them badly. She always starts wanting sweet things when her heat cycle's fixing to start."

Ratchet's optics widened. "When did you notice this?"

"A few kliks ago. Why do you want to know?"

"It just means that her frame is getting ready to go into heat. Most bots don't get that kind of a warning. Typically, a bot in heat will start to give off a sent that others notice long before the bot themselves notice. I don't think your sister would appreciate half the base chasing after her."

"Probably not," Wind Dancer said, grinning, "Do you have any recipes?"

Ratchet nodded. "That I do have. And, I also have most of the ingredients for them."

He leaned down to look through his drawers to see if he could find it. After looking through several of his drawers, he finally pulled out a datapad and placed it on the desk. Wind Dancer came closer to the desk.

"Let me see if it is charged … *turns on datapad* … yes, it is," he handed the datapad to Wind Dancer, "Come to me after Wing Saber sees it and I can show you two where everything is."

"Thanks, Ratchet!" Wind Dancer said, taking the datapad and running out of the office, leaving Ratchet who was shaking his helm.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

It wasn't long before Wind Dancer returned with Wing Saber in tow. Ratchet abandoned the reports he had to file and motioned for the two to follow him.

The three bots went out into the medbay and Ratchet led them to a closet to the left of the counter.

"This closet contains most of the minerals and metals I use. Anything in that datapad that is not here will be in the energon storage room. I do ask that if you use anything in here, you refill anything that needs to be refilled. I can't have my supplies running when bots get themselves hurt. You will need an officer let you into the storage room."

"Thanks, Ratchet. I can make some for others if it's alright with you." Wing Saber said, her wings fluttering with happiness.

"It's fine. Be warned, though, Optimus will take goodies if you are not watching them. I used to have big problems with both him and Megatron taking the energon goodies out of my medbay. I had to start hiding them. I couldn't even keep them around when we had sparklings apede."

Wing Saber smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." She turned to Wind Dancer. "Let's find Stardust and tell her. I think Ironhide still has the mechs."

"YES!" Wind Dancer cried and she was gone before Wing Saber could start walking.

Wing Saber didn't even take two steps before she felt a servo on her shoulder.

"Before you go," Wing Saber turned to face the medic, "we need to talk about your plans for your next heat cycle."

Wing Saber's wings fell, all previous excitement gone. She had a feeling where this was going and she really didn't want another lecture about picking a berthmate. Dreadwing hounded her enough as it was.

Ratchet guided the apprehensive Seeker into his office and locked the door.

* * *

 **I will soon post a chapter in an M rated facfic for any scenes that contain content unfit for humans under the age of 18. The facfic will be called "FV Companion". Each chapter will be labeled so you know when each chapter takes place. Since I still have siblings under 18 who read** _ **Facades and Veritas**_ **, it is better I don't go into details in this fanfic.**

 **While it is not taboo for Cybertronian younglings to hear about their reproductive anatomy, it can be harmful to human younglings, so for those under 18, DO NOT pursue the M rated stuff! It will scar your mind!** **Cybertronian anatomy is similar to humans, so no peeking!**

 **Again, feedback is most appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6

Hey y'all! If any of you are wanting to read about Ratchet's conversation will Wing Saber, the first chapter of the FV Companion will have it. Again, if you are under 18 years of age, please don't read it. I'll try to make sure you don't miss anything important. Thanks.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 _One thing I hated about this war was that all the animals had virtually disappeared off the face of the planet. Last time I spoke with Dreadwing, he assured me that they were out there, just not where we could see them. They didn't like all the fighting._

 _I miss my dog. I miss all our pets. They were dead now. I hope mine didn't die of a broken heart. She was my tail from day one. It would be nice if I could see her again._

…

…

 _New topic. I'm about ready ta hit a certain minibot. From what others have said, that is just the way minibots are. There is a minibot named Cliffjumper, but he is not to be confused with his larger look-a-like. Both bots share the same designation, but they have total opposite personalities._

 _Cliffjumper is an awful lot like Gear, Brawn, and Huffer. Always stirring something up. I can't help but feel that something's about ta shift. Something's about ta happen. I don't know when, but something's coming and I don't know if it is for good, bad, or what._

 _One thing's for sure; if Ratchet so much as tries to pair me up with someone, so help me, he's gonna regret it …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Bladestream had just gotten permission from Prowl and Optimus to join in on monitor duty when Ratchet called him, asking if Bladestream would come to the medbay.

Bladestream was confused, but wondered if it had anything to do with Wing Saber. He had to close his end of the bond not too long ago due to the feelings she was giving off. They were too distracting.

When Bladestream entered the medbay, Ratchet was cleaning the medberths.

"You wanted to see me?" Bladestream called.

Ratchet looked up. "Yes, I wanted to talk to you about Wing Saber."

Yep. "What about?"

Ratchet leaded against the berth he had just finished cleaning. "Seekers don't refuse intimacy. Wing Saber refuses to spend her heat cycle with a partner. I gave her a device that will help, but it won't be enough. I don't think she'd give me an honest answer if I asked."

"So you came to me?" Bladestream asked, raising an optic ridge.

"Yes." Ratchet nodded.

Bladestream rocked in place, choosing his words carefully. "In order to explain why she does this, I have to explain our culture and our experiences.

"In our country, the culture had become sexualized. Females were told to cover themselves, sex offenders were hardly punished, children and young females were being kidnapped and sold as sex slaves, unborn sparklings were being killed left and right. Most males didn't treat females well and domestic violence was on the rise.

"Good was bad and bad was good. To remain a virgin until bonding was somehow a sin. Males bonded with each other and so were females when humans were designed to bond in pairs of one male and one female. To support natural bonding was looked down upon.

"My carrier was told by the Ones to educate me and my brother and sisters herself. She was ridiculed for it. She chose to stay home to be with her offspring and when she sought help when things got tight, she was told to work and place us in youth sectors. She refused.

"Slowly, my sire became abusive. Not physically, but verbally. I won't go into details for it doesn't matter now. Just know that it was enough for both me and Wing Saber to not want a mate. Males weren't interested in Wing Saber anyway."

Bladestream looked down in thought. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't her brother just so I could bond to her and give her the treatment she deserves.

"Anyway, she has been told by many people that she needed to get a mechfriend, but she always told them she would wait for the right one, that there was no reason to hunt him down.

"She was also disgusted with the way most males treated their mates. Both that and our sire's treatment of us and our carrier drove Wing Saber to not want a mate. I think Dreadwing and Skyquake would've courted her if they weren't Decepticons."

Ratchet nodded. "I see. Well, the good news is that it is easier for us to tell when we have found our sparkmate, or mates in your case. Come here" he said waving Bladestream over to his computers. Ratchet typed in something and what looked like a series of wavelengths in a long list on the left side of the screen.

"This is a list of every Autobot on the planet along with their spark signatures. I can take any one of these spark signatures, let's say… Bumblebee's, for example," Ratchet said, touching Bumblebee's name glyph and his signature and dragging it off to the other end of the screen, "and ask the computer to find the best match for his spark frequency." He typed in a command and the names began to scroll quickly up the screen.

"The frequency of each spark is different and can have up to four or five other sparks that are compatible with it. The computer with go through the list and rank the matches according to the best match. If it runs out of living Autobots, it will go to living Decepticons then living neutrals."

The computer pulled out a set of spark twins called Sunstreaker and Sideswipe and placed them below Bumblebee's signature.

"Hmm, not really that surprising…" Ratchet muttered.

Bladestream wondered what he meant by that as the computer finished with the Autobots and searched the Decepticons. It found no match and went to the neutrals, where it eventually found Wing Saber's signature and put it below the twins. After it finished the list, the window with the list closed, Bumblebee's signature went to the center and numbers began to scroll by the signatures of the potential matches. When the numbers settled, Wing Saber matched Bumblebee 100% and the twins matched him at 98%.

"I thought grounders didn't have trines." Bladestream said, turning to Ratchet.

"Normally, no, but since Wing Saber is a match, I am not surprised that Bumblebee will have a trine. What surprises me, is that if the twin are a match for Bumblebee, they are also a match for Wing Saber. The Terror Twins have a reputation for hating Seekers." Ratchet pulled up the list again and dragged Wing Saber's signature out of the list and told the computer to find a match for her.

"Why do you call them the Terror Twins?"

Ratchet scowled. "Their pranks send their victims to my medbay. Prowl is a favorite and they tend to crash his processor so hard, I have to reboot him and make him take the orn off. Those two seem to make it their life's goal to make my existence miserable."

The computer matched her with the twins, Bumblebee, and Dreadwing and Skyquake. It sorted all three matches and placed Bumblebee at the top followed by the grounder twins then the Seeker twins. The Seeker twins were a 75% match with the grounder twins at 95% and Bumblebee at 100%.

Bladestream thought back to when Wing Saber had seen Bumblebee for the first time. She had seen the first live action transformers movie and liked him immediately. Since then, she had gotten a transforming Bumblebee toy 'cause she liked him so much. Even though she was technically too old for toys.

"Can we get Bumblebee over here?" Bladestream asked. Bumblebee was not on base at the moment.

"Not for several groon," Ratchet shook his helm, "He and several others are on the other side of the planet deep in Con territory. The twins would be a better option. While it would be better to bond to Bumblebee first, the twins can make due. If they can convince her to let them help her."

"Why would it be better to bond with Bumblebee first? Does it matter what order they bond in?" Bladestream asked, not to sure he liked the idea of Wing Saber having two, really, three mates.

"Bumblebee is the best match. If you were to combine his and Wing Saber's frequencies," Ratchet placed a digit on both Wing Saber's and Bumblebee's signatures and brought them together to make a new spark and asked the computer to find a match, "the twins are the perfect match for the new spark."

"How do you know the twins won't just jump the gun?"

"The spark is a mysterious thing, Bladestream. It knows things our processors can't begin to comprehend. The twins will know that the time is not right. If Bumblebee meets her while the twins are still around, Bumblebee will have to prove that he is a better match. Regardless of the outcome, Wing Saber will get to choose who she bonds with.

"The twins are both bigger and stronger than Bumblebee. They also have stronger sire coding than Bumblebee does. ^If they wish to bond to Bumblebee and Wing Saber, they will have to perform a highly elaborate Seeker ritual that requires them to court Wing Saber while challenging Bumblebee's dominance. They will eventually have to chase, catch, and publicly dominate both members of the pair."

"What do you mean by 'publicly dominate'?"

Ratchet gave the young mech a look. It took Bladestream a nanoklik before realizing what Ratchet meant.

"Uhg, Ratchet! I did not need to know that!" he said, rubbing his face plates with his servos.^

Ratchet laughed. "You need to know before it happens. Who knows? Maybe you will end up courting a bonded pair."

"No way. I WILL not do that." Bladestream said firmly.

Ratchet was still snickering when the medbay doors slid open and Stardust walked in.

"Ratchet, where's Wing Saber? We were supposed to make energon goodies and she has the datapad with the recipes on it."

"She is resting in my quarters. I'll send her to you when she's ready."

Stardust's wings drooped as she walked out of the medbay.

Ratchet gave Bladestream a sideways glance, his servo hovering over the keys of the keyboard, suggesting that the medic was going to search for a match for the triple changer.

Bladestream glared at the medic. " _Don't even think about it_." He growled, his wings pinned against his back in irritation.

Ratchet laughed once more and waved a servo at the triplechanger. "Fine, fine, I won't. Just don't be too harsh on any of them if they try to court Wing Saber."

Bladestream huffed and left the room.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

It wasn't long before Wing Saber was up and about again. She absolutely refused to tell her curious sisters why she was in Ratchet's quarters to begin with.

The sisters chose a type of rust stick that sounded similar to peppermint candy canes. Ironhide was a tad hesitant about letting them into the storage room, but let them in on the account that they let him have a piece. They gathered up the containers of ingredients, which had to be dusted off, and took them to the rec room.

There really wasn't anyone in the rec room when Wing Saber and her sisters arrived, so they pulled a table over to the counter where the energon dispenser was. They laid out the ingredients and the utensils needed to make them and eagerly got started.

They were not prepared, however, for the long process. It was similar to making old fashioned candles, where you had to constantly dip the sticks. Wing Saber suggested they make a simpler, faster treat while they made the rust sticks. To their delight, there was a gummy goodie on the datapad that sounded good.

It didn't take long before their efforts were noticed. There were bots that came into the rec room that all wanted the rust sticks that were far from ready, leading to several disappointed people. Bluestreak was as hyper as a youngling when he found out and Jetstorm tried to swipe some gummies. This lead to him getting his servo smacked, which nearly ended in a friendly wrestling match.

Joor went by as Stardust and Wind Dancer lost interest in the rust sticks. They were happy with a servoful of gummies to themselves for helping.

Wing Saber enjoyed the taste of the gummy energon goodies. They reminded her of the twin cherries that were made by the same company that made the gold bag of gummy bears.

Wing Saber was also taking the time to read the datapad concerning the different ingredients and their uses in Cybertronian cooking. See also tried tasting what stuff she had dragged out of the supply closet to gage the flavors.

When a new batch of gummies was finished setting, she took it out of the cabinet and brought it to the table to find some of a previous batch missing. She was a bit confused by this and stretched her field to see if the thief was still nearby. When she didn't sense anyone near, she guessed that the thief was long gone. She'd have to be more alert.

Wait, there were cameras in the rec room. Maybe Red Alert saw something. She decided to comm him.

 _ **:: Red Alert? ::**_

 _ **:: Yes? ::**_ the jumpy security officer asked.

 _ **:: Did anyone come into the rec room and take any energon goodies while my back was turned? ::**_

 _ **:: Let me look … ::**_ there was a pause as he looked through, her guess was, surveillance footage.

Wing Saber waited a good while for his answer. _**:: Red Alert? ::**_ No answer. Worried, Wing Saber called Jazz.

Jazz was quick to respond. _**:: What's up, Saber? ::**_

 _ **: Could you check on Red Alert? I asked him to check the cameras cause some of my energon goodies are missing and I wanted to know who took them and he hasn't answered in a while. ::**_ she said, hoping it was not one of her brothers or she will bop them but good.

 _ **:: Gimme a klik and ah'll check back wit ya. ::**_

Jazz kept his comm open and Wing Saber went about packaging up the gummies and dipping the rust sticks again. Those things just weren't thick enough. They should be at least half as thick as the first joint of her digit. They were getting there, but it was slow going.

A chuckle rose up at the other end of the comm.

 _ **:: What is it, Jazz? ::**_ Wing Saber asked.

 _ **:: Red Alert glitched. Your thief is Optimus Prime. ::**_ Jazz said in I fit of chuckles.

Wing Saber frowned. _He could've just asked_ , she thought.

 _ **:: Ah'm gonna reboot 'im. No need ta call Hatchet. ::**_

 _ **:: You do realize that Ratchet don't like that nickname, right? ::**_

 _ **:: Yeah, but it's fun ta call 'im that. ::**_ Jazz said, a smile in his voice.

Wing Saber rolled her optics and shook her helm. Jazz seemed to like to pick on poor Ratchet. Just last orn, he was teasing Ratchet about something or other and she saw Jazz running out of the medbay, dodging a wrench from a shouting medic.

She counted the gummies and placed them in a large jar. She'd give them to Ratchet for safe keeping.

Wait … she forgot to save some for her family. She grabbed another container and poured some goodies into the smaller jar.

As she was screwing lids on when she felt a familiar presence enter the rec room. Mentally growling, she chose to ignore the minibot. She had had enough of Gears to last the vorn. Hopefully, he was just interested in the treats.

"Whacha making, Seeker? Trying to poison us under the 'guise of sweets?" he sneered.

"Take 'em to Ratchet if ya really believe that, Gears. Or Red Alert. Don't touch the rust sticks, though. They ain't ready yet." Wing Saber warned as Gears tried to inspect the hanging sticks.

Gears' tone changed, "Rust sticks? You made rust sticks?"

"Yeah," Wing Saber smiled at the minibot, "Well … me and my sisters did. They should be done some time next orn. They have to sit overnight to harden." Wing Saber went about cleaning as Gears tried to form a comeback.

"That's plenty of time to alter then!" he cried.

Wing Saber sighed. "Look, if I truly wanted to do something to them, Red Alert would have caught it. And any changes I make can be discovered be Teletran. I can cook and I can cook well. Poisoning the ones who took my family in and helped them is _not_ on my list of things to do.

"Everyone, in any race, enjoys sweets. I thought I could brighten y'all's spirits by making some. If you don't want 'em, don't eat 'em. Your choice." And with that, she began to clean the utensils and place them on a towel to dry. Gears was the ignored, his processor mulling over her words. He still didn't care for the Seeker.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber had retired to her quarters, highly thankful for her own private washracks. Thanks to ultra-sensitive senses, she could already detect the subtle hints of her own scent. She couldn't feel any other effects of her heat yet, but the scent was starting. She was going to have to start gathering up things for the vorn ahead. The stunt Ratchet pulled earlier this orn had caused the heat cycle to start at least three orn early.

Oh well. She'd give Stardust and Wind Dancer instructions on what to do with the rust sticks while she was holed up in here.

On the bright side, it gave her time to plan a crystal garden. She looked at the blue crystal that Bluestreak gave her last orn. It was glowing brightly, showing that it had already soaked up vital nutrients for it to grow and multiply. She also had planted other crystals she had gathered from the cave in the desert.

Wing Saber grabbed datapad and plugged it into a computer that had been installed in her quarters. She would need a bigger screen for this.

She began with a large coliseum in the center. This would be where Bots and Cons alike could spar each other and settle disputes instead of out on the battle field where things got deadly. And maybe they could start making friends along the way. Ratchet could program repair drones for the coliseum so that the Autobot medical staff wasn't pulled for the job.

Maybe she could talk Megatron into helping her design it. Or not. If Megatron helped, it would likely become booby trapped. She didn't want the garden to become Con territory. It was to be a place all could enjoy.

She began to research different crystals and if they were "shrubs" or "trees", finding which crystals grew tall or remained small.

Ha ha, that rhymed. She snickered as she looked at images of the Praxian crystal gardens. She looked at the different colors and began to draw different areas and pathways and gazebos around the coliseum. She took clips of images and placed them in different areas on her plans.

It took her well into the night to finish the plans. It would be a few groon before the crystals she had were ready for planting. She would also need to get this whole idea approved by Prowl before she could even start it.

Wing Saber jumped when Ironhide walked in. He looked around her quarters. "Where are the rust sticks?" he asked.

"Still in the rec room. They need to harden all night cycle."

Ironhide sagged.

"But there is another type of energon goodie in the jar by the energon dispenser." Wing Saber said, pointing in that direction.

Ironhide nodded and left.

Wing Saber promptly locked the door. She didn't need anybody coming in on her right now.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Optimus walked into Ratchet's medbay.

"You crashed Red Alert's CPU." Ratchet deadpanned.

Optimus looked at the medic's backplates. "How so?" he asked.

"Apparently, you took some of the energon goodies that Wing Saber was making and she took notice, asking Red Alert to find out who did it. He crashed when he saw it was you."

Optimus said nothing and looked at his pedes.

"Still got that sweet tooth, eh Optimus?" Ratchet asked, hinting at the last time he had treats in the medbay.

"It's been a long time Ratchet." Optimus said.

"Since we had energon goodies around? Or since you ate the last ones I had?" Ratchet finally turned to face his leader, who looked more like a youngling getting scolded rather than a Prime at the moment.

"Wind Dancer came to me asking for energon goodies earlier this orn and I gave her a datapad that I hadn't used since Bumblebee was little. She took it to her sisters and they made a couple different kinds if I recall correctly. Why did you come in here? I don't think it was to chit chat."

"I wanted to warn you that we will be getting some new arrivals within the next few orn."

"Who are we expecting?" Ratchet asked, going back to his work.

Optimus braced himself. There was no lightening the news. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe."

Ratchet dropped the tool he was cleaning.

"The General asked me to take them back. He couldn't handle their pranks."

Ratchet sighed. It seemed as though no one wanted to put up with them. Even if it meant gaining ground over the Decepticons.

"Very well," he turned to Optimus, "Are you going to warn them?"

Optimus shook his helm. "They have dealt with the prejudice within the ranks far better than I ever could have asked them to. The minibots are the only regulars who give them any grief. I am confident that they can handle the twins."

"Very well." Said Ratchet. He went back to cleaning. He paused when Optimus stayed. Ratchet groaned. Optimus wasn't going to leave until he finished … or quit.

Ratchet _was_ planning to catch up on the reports piling up on his desk, but he wouldn't be able to now. Not with Optimus hovering over his shoulder plating.

He finished his work and left the medbay with Optimus at his heel struts. Optimus only left when Ratchet had entered his quarters and locked the door. Knowing that he would not hear the end of it if he stayed up, Optimus retired for the night as well.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 **Sorry for the shorter chapters recently. I'll try to make them a little longer. Feedback is always appreciated! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry for the long delay. Got bad writer's block. This chapter was a pain to churn out. If anyone has any ideas they'd like to see in the story, suggestions are highly welcomed at this point. The story has to progress a bit farther before my ideas can occur.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

* * *

 _I may have said it before, but the crystals are coming along nicely. Faster than I thought, actually. Every orn they grow and change. I'm hoping that at the end of the groon, I can start planting a garden. I'd hafta clear it with Prowl and Optimus first. Hopefully, the garden will be a place where both Bots and Cons will hang out and some of this prejudice will start to fade._

 _If this world is anything like the Transformers franchise back home, all this war has done is add fuel to the fire that was already burning. I don't think that that was what Megatron and Orion originally intended. I'd need to do some research about it. Hopefully there is a way to reconcile those two back together._

 _I just have this feeling that the war wasn't supposed to be like this. It wasn't supposed to a war between this or that faction, but one of revolution. I need to see what I can find on the subject._

 _But I need to build this garden first. I pray Optimus agrees with it._

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Sideswipe bounced a small rubber ball off the wall. He was beyond bored. There was nothing to do on this transport. Counter Punch, the head of the base he and his brother were stationed at, had sent the two away and Optimus Prime send back over a dozen other soldiers to replace them. Counter Punch had more patience than most of the Autobot leaders, but Sideswipe's harmless pranks eventually wore on the old mech and both of them were being sent back to Iacon.

 **~ Your pranks are** _ **not**_ **harmless. ~** Sunstreaker deadpanned across their twin bond.

Sideswipe caught his ball and looked to the seat across from him where a mech as golden as the rays of a rising sun accented in pale silver sat, arms crossed over his chestplates and grouchy. Sunstreaker didn't appreciate getting roped in on Sideswipe's pranks, but what else was his brother to do? Sunstreaker's life cycle would be pretty boring without him around.

Sideswipe sent gushy affection towards his brother, making his brother's armor bristle and a glare that could melt metal was shot his way.

 **~ Awww, but it was all in good fun! ~** Sideswipe said, a goofy grin on his face.

Sunstreaker raised an optic ridge. "Did you sneak out high grade again?" he asked, highly disapproving of his brother's goofiness.

"Nope! Just bored. At least we get to prank Prowl, again."

"I wouldn't start that so soon. Jazz is back on base."

"All the more fun! I'll just get Jazz to help me!" Sideswipe said, jumping up out of his seat.

Sunstreaker frowned and pushed Sideswipe back into it. "Fasten yourself in, you idiot. Do you _want_ to get your helm cracked open?" he growled.

"So you do care, Sunny!" Sideswipe said playfully, broadcasting giddiness.

"No, I just have no desire to join the Well even though you do." Sunstreaker said gruffly.

"And don't call me that." Sunstreaker shut off his end of the bond and pointedly stared out the window.

Sideswipe sighed loudly and threw himself, backplates down, onto the seat, all sprawled out. He stared at the ceiling, his optics tracing over every line and groove. He checked his chronometer to find that they were only a joor away from Iacon.

 _A whole joor of boredom!_ Sideswipe thought miserably. It was going to be the longest joor ever!

"Can this thing go any faster?!" Sideswipe whined.

Sunstreaker ignored him.

Sideswipe groaned loudly before sitting back up and staring out his own window. He hoped there would be some action on the base.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Bladestream sat on the edge of one of peaks of the Autobot base. One pede rested on the other stabilizer and his helm was propped up by a servo, the elbow joint rested on the stabilizer that was resting on the other. The events of the last battle bothered him. That voice that called out to him … the need to follow it. If his bond with his sister was anything to go by, Wing Saber felt the same voice.

He didn't know where it had come from, or who it belonged to. He needed to bring it up next time Wing Saber was free. She was a little … preoccupied … at the moment. She would not be available for several days. Orn. Or whatever.

He watched as a transport landed at the base. Two bots stepped out of the transport, one golden and the other red. He didn't care for their aloft attitude. They were Autobots, apparently, but they seemed to be masking their true feelings. They were bracing themselves. But for what?

They felt familiar, which was odd. These bots were complete strangers.

As he watched them enter the base, he figured he'd ask Prowl to tell him about these two.

Back to the Voice. It seemed to be more of a telepathic connection than a spark one. He had enough experience with spark bonds to be able to tell the difference.

Bladestream looked out over the Iaconian landscape. He honestly hoped it wasn't Soundwave. If it was, it could spell trouble.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Sunstreaker let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Iacon. While it was the Autobot capital, it was one of the more peaceful places in Autobot territory left. Returning here meant that he could go back to his paints. They were his solace. Unlike his idiotic brother, Sunstreaker actually preferred the times of quiet.

As their transport grew closer to the base, both brothers adopted a more aloft attitude. The transport landed in the base and Sunstreaker blocked out the automated safety recordings that came through the speakers.

All Sunstreaker needed was in his subspace pockets, so there was no luggage to lug around.

When the twins got off the transport, Prowl was there waiting for them. The SIC's black and white wings were high in an authoritative display, his faceplates and field held a neutral expression. Sunstreaker felt Sideswipe begin to formulate all the ways he could rile up the SIC, but chose to ignore him for now. He was not going to get involved if his brother wanted to visit the brig.

Prowl nodded to them. "I assume you know the routine?" he asked.

"Yeah. Go see Ratchet for a system's check, check in with Prime, and get settled in our quarters." Sideswipe said indifferently, waving his servo while he spoke.

"AND write up a report by tonight. I expect it on my desk by morning." Said Prowl, a hint of a frown crossing his faceplates.

"Yeah, sure," said Sideswipe, walking off. "See ya later, Prowl."

Sunstreaker rolled his optics as he followed Sideswipe to Ratchet's domain. It had been a long time since he had seen the medic.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Ratchet had gotten word earlier that morning that the twins were nearing Iacon. He had prepped the medbay for their exanimations. He hoped that there wouldn't be any damage or viruses he had to fix. The less time they spent in his medbay, the better. The medbay was going to be much busier with the victims of their pranks.

The medbay doors opened. "Hey, Ratch! Miss us?" a voice called out.

Ratchet groaned. The Terror Twins were back. "No, I didn't if you must know. I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet around here!" he said, already grouchy with the twins.

"Love ya, too, Ratchet!" said Sideswipe, playful affection in his voice.

Sunstreaker huffed.

Ratchet would never admit it, but he was relieved that the twins were here where he could keep an optic on them. They tend to get themselves slagged when they went into battle. He worried every time whether they would make it out alive or not.

But he'd never say it. They knew that he cared, though. Even if they did everything they could, it seemed, to be on the receiving end of his wrench.

"Just get on the berth, Sideswipe." Sunstreaker said, taking a seat on one of the other berths close by.

Ratchet started off by scanning each twin and checking their systems to see if they were up to date, which they were. The medics at the base in Tagon Heights did a good job with the twins.

In under a breem, he had the twins done.

"Alright, get out of my medbay." He said, packing away equipment he didn't use.

Sideswipe sat up straight. "That was fast."

"Yes, and if you wish to keep it that way, you will get out!" Ratchet shouted, waving a wrench threateningly.

Sunstreaker grabbed his twin and dragged him out before the red twin could say anything.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Word had leaked out that the twins were coming, but no one told the twins that there would be new bots on the base. The twins ran into Tracks, a blue and white scout, who told them that there were some neutrals staying at the base … four Seekers and a triplechanger, who was technically a Seeker with grounder modes. All were siblings.

Unfortunately, Tracks didn't know much more than that. He chose not to get involved with the Seekers. He advised the twins not to hit on the blue femme or the triplechanger would get involved.

"Is he her trine mate?" Sideswipe asked.

"I don't know," Track said with a shrug, "ask them. The younglings are friendlier."

 **~ Younglings?! ~** Sideswipe and Sunstreaker looked at each other. They missed it when Bee was little.

Sideswipe turned back to Tracks to ask which of the Seekers were younglings, but the mech had walked off.

"They're probably in the rec room. If they are friendlier, they would've wrapped their servos around everyone's sparks by now." Sunstreaker grumbled.

Sideswipe giggled. "Aw, you just miss Lil' Bee as a sparkling. Come on." Sideswipe dashed off to the rec room.

Sunstreaker groaned and walked after his twin. He didn't care much for Seekers. But who could say no to a couple of younglings?

Sideswipe was way ahead of Sunstreaker. He rounded a corner and skidded to a stop in the rec room doorway. He looked around. Many bots stopped what they were doing and turned his way. Many bots looked at him with curious optics. Others with anticipation. A familiar voice called out to him from the right side of the room.

"Sides!"

He turned and saw Bluestreak waving at him. Bluestreak. Sideswipe's circuits warmed at the sight of the silver and blue mech. Bumblebee was still little when Bluestreak came to live with the Autobots. Bluestreak was already a youngling at that point. Poor kid had watched Praxus be bombed by the Decepticons. He was the sole survivor.

A dark colored Seeker femme sat at the table with Bluestreak. What puzzled Sideswipe was that her optics were brown and she had thin wires coming out of her helm that matched her optics. She hunched over a bit at the sight of Sideswipe.

Sideswipe made his way over to the pair.

Bluestreak didn't wait for Sideswipe to get to the table before he started talking. "You're back! How many Cons did you slag? It's been pretty quiet around here. The Cons have only attacked a few times since you left. Then then neutrals were trying to escape the Cons, so we went to help them out –"

"Slow down, Blue," said Sideswipe, "I can get to my personal tally later. Mind introducing me to your friend?" he asked, giving the femme a sideways glance. The femme looked down at the table.

Bluestreak blinked. "Oh," he said, "this is Stardust. She's one of the neutrals who've come to the base. Optimus granted them asylum. She has two brothers and two sisters. One of each is older than her and one of each is younger. Her two younger siblings are still younglings. They like to play on the holovid." Bluestreak pointed to the holoscreen in the opposite corner on the rec room where a young bot, Warpath, if Sideswipe remembered correctly, and a couple of young Seekers were currently playing a racing game.

"The mechling is Jetstorm and the femmeling is Wind Dancer." Sideswipe turned to the femme. "Wind Dancer is the sparkling of the family." The femme said.

"Where are your creators?" Sideswipe asked. "Your siblings should still be suckling."

Stardust's face fell, her wings drooping with sadness. "Gone," she said, "at least, I think they're gone. I can't feel them anymore."

"What happened?" Sunstreaker asked, having heard Stardust's answer as he walked into the rec room.

"Many cities on the planet we lived on were attacked. Many younger bots, namely fledglings and young adults, were taken by the Cons. Jetstorm and Wind Dancer just were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

 **~ The Seekers playing with Warpath. Jetstorm is the mech and Wind Dancer is the femme. ~** Sideswipe clarified through there bond, causing Sunstreaker to look over his shoulder plating.

"My older sister, Wing Saber, suckled them until Ratchet threw a fit. Ironhide and Chromia do it now."

Sideswipe caught his brother eyeing Stardust's paint job. Now that he took the time to look, Sideswipe, too, noticed that it was indeed unique.

"Who did your paint job?" Sunstreaker asked, impressed.

Stardust blushed a bit, becoming embarrassed. "No one, really. I emerged this way. Fancy paint jobs tend to run in my family. My older siblings have pretty ones, too."

"Where are they?"

Stardust shrugged. "Wing Saber's locked in her quarters, probably. She tends to spend long joor in there lately. Don't know why nor will she tell.

"And Bladestream? Probably playing chess with Prowl."

"Chess?" Sideswipe asked, confused. What game was this?

"It's a strategy game we used to play back home. Bladestream's good at it."

"Warpath! That's cheating!"

The new voice caused the twins' helms to turn. The car that the Seeker mechling had been driving was sent off a cliff, causing him to have to start at the latest checkpoint.

Warpath gestured to the holoscreen, only momentarily glancing at Jetstorm.

"It's perfectly legal! There's really no way you can cheat in this game."

Wind Dancer's wings fluttered happily as she giggled at Jetstorm's misfortune.

Sideswipe's processor drifted back to what Stardust said about her creators being gone. He turned back to her.

"About what you said earlier, why were the Decepticons kidnapping young bots?"

Stardust's wings rose to a guarded posture. She looking like an animal caught in someone's headlights.

"New additions to Megatron's army, maybe? I don't know. I think they had other ideas for my older siblings, though. Didn't see them much."

Something wasn't right. He couldn't place it, but Sideswipe had a feeling that the Seeker wasn't lying. At the very least she wasn't telling all the truth.

Sunstreaker was feeling the same thing. Now was not the time to press any further. The femme was nervous already.

Sideswipe locked optics with his brother. Sunstreaker nodded. They needed to wait a little bit before pressing for more details.

Sunstreaker went to the energon dispenser and got the two energon. He left the room and headed for their quarters. While he liked seeing Prowl flustered, he didn't want to be in trouble for a late report. If he could manage to get his brother to focus on the report, Sideswipe would write it up for them both. Then he could get back to his paint before Sides decided to go on an early pranking spree.

He got halfway down the corridor when he noticed Sideswipe wasn't with him. Sunstreaker growled. His energetic brother was visiting with bots.

Sideswipe sensed his brother's annoyance and chased after him, promising to make it up to him later.

That eased Sunstreaker a bit, but not enough to make him drop his annoyed posture.

Once the twins were in there quarters, Sunstreaker made a beeline to their private washracks. The travel left dust on his pristine plating. And he hadn't been able to buff it for vorns. The General took the buffer and wax he brought to Tagon Heights as punishment for a prank Sideswipe pulled. He kicked his brother out of their quarters until he made up, but Sunstreaker never got the neither item back.

As Sideswipe turned the washracks on, Sunstreaker looked at his brother. He still cared greatly for him, even if Sideswipe seemed to have an early death wish.

The two washed each other, just as they always had, enjoying the closeness other their other half.

They were one. They would always be one. They would someday share the same mate.

 **~ But** _ **not**_ **Radiant Moon, ~** Sunstreaker said, **~ Anyone but her. ~**

 **~ I know she didn't like you, Sunny. You know I would never bond to someone who doesn't love you like I do. ~** said Sideswipe, pulsing more gushy affection to his brother's spark.

Sunstreaker sighed. "She tolerated me. She wanted you, but she knew she couldn't have you without me."

"She was fun, though. We'll find someone who likes you, Sunny. Maybe they'll be a mech this time. Femmes are squishy."

Sunstreaker turned to face Sideswipe, who was trying to dry himself off.

"I though you liked femmes."

"I do, but the ones we meet don't want both of us. We might have better luck with a mech."

Sunstreaker threw his now damp towel onto Sideswipe, walking towards the cabinet that held his wax.

"Hey!" Sideswipe yelled, dropped his own towel to get Sunstreaker's off his helm.

"Go write that report for Prowl. I don't want him bearing down on us." Sunstreaker opened the cabinet and retrieved the wax from Crystal City. It wasn't his best nor his favorite, but it was a good quality one.

"I could do it after I help you buff. I can still get it done before tomorrow."

"No. You and I both know that is not a good idea. We know where that will lead."

"I don't ever hear you complain." said Sideswipe, suggestfully.

Sunstreaker bristled. "Well I am now. Just finish the slaggin' thing. If I'm not done by then, then you can help. But not before."

"Okay, okay. I'll go do it." Sideswipe said, leaving the washracks.

Sunstreaker should technically be helping his brother write the report, but Sideswipe had a way with words that Sunstreaker didn't have. It's not like they needed to file separate reports anyway. They were split spark twins, after all. Anything one of them knew or experienced would be known by the other at some point. The brothers merged on an ornly basis. That's why Prowl only required one report from them.

Sunstreaker began to spread his wax over his plating. He would probably be done before Sideswipe got the report done. Then Sunstreaker could go paint.

* * *

 **Shorter than I wanted, but at least it's done. If ya'll have any suggestions for the story, please let me know. I know what I want in future chapters, but I need other ideas before I can get to the other stuff.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

* * *

 _I know they watch us._

 _Wind Dancer and Jetstorm have found their way into the sparks of many of the Autobots. Others still dislike them for being Seekers (not that we can help it), but aren't mean to them either. Even if they did, they'd have to answer to Ironhide and Chromia. Neither one of those two are very pleasant when angered._

 _Bots treat Stardust with respect because of Ratchet. No one wants to get on his bad side. And I think many of them like her, even if they won't admit it._

 _Bladestream and I are a different story. Nobody can decide if they like us or not. We don't talk much, we tend to avoid people in general, we keep to ourselves, we are almost never apart._

 _Yet, if they knew what we've been through, I don't think they'd blame us._

 _I mean, why would we get close to people? Anyone we've reached out to has betrayed us or turned on our mother._

 _Or both._

 _*sigh* … Friendship never lasts … at least with our family. When it boils down to it, all we have is each other._

 _My best friend was my mother. My second was always my brother. I am growing closer to Stardust now and the younger two … well, we'll get there. I love them dearly. They just need to get through adolescence in one piece._

 _Since my mother's gone, all I have is my siblings. I can sense Optimus wants to help, he wants to be there, but he would push it. He won't pry us to know what goes on in our heads._

 _Ironhide and Chromia are trying, they really are. But they can never replace Mama and Daddy. Ironhide is much of what I wanted out of my father. But Chromia could never be my mother, try as she might to support me. At least she knows when I need space._

 _Can we ever have someone who_ won't _leave us or betray us? Is that too much to ask?_

 _Then again? Who wants to get close enough to be inseparable?_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Optimus looked over the datapad Wing Saber had given him. He had to admit, he was impressed with it. It was a bird's-eye view of an elaborate crystal garden. Wing Saber had taken the datapads he had given her and ran with them. She had sketched a garden filled with crystals and small structures as shelters from the sun and rain. She had made notes as to what crystals do best where.

"This is beautiful, Wing Saber, but why did you bring this to me?" Optimus asked, lowering the datapad a moment.

"I want to build a garden. Just outside of Iacon. I want it to be a place Cybertronians can go for a little peace and tranquility in this time of war. I think bots are fighting for the wrong reasons. There is so much hatred and prejudice in this world that I thought it would be a good idea to create a place bots could come to and forget about the war, factions, and enemies for once.

"I also have plans to build several sparing mats. Places within the garden where bots can spar with each other in friendly matches without killing each other. This way, bots can let out pent up energy and frustration in competition rather than war.

"It'll take a while to build, especially right now. All I ask is the resources to get this started."

"Building this outside of Iacon will attract Decepticons." Prowl said. "We will not be able to protect you as well."

"That's kinda the point, Prowl. Like I said earlier, I want Cons to come to the garden, as well as Bots. I want to create a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere that will bring healing to both sides."

Optimus looked worried. "This will draw Megatron. If I allow this, it is likely that you will encounter Megatron on your own. I will not be able to send soldiers out there very quickly."

"You won't have to. The Ones will protect me. This garden is also for him, too. As long as he doesn't try to destroy it."

Optimus looked at Prowl. Wing Saber silently prayed for favor.

Prowl stood at the corner of Optimus's desk for a while, thinking. "There is an 80% chance Megatron will take interest in Wing Saber's project. It is also possible that he will leave her alone and try to woo her back to the Decepticons.

"Then again, there is a high probability that this could end the war faster than you or Megatron surrendering. I believe we should try it."

Optimus nodded. "Alright. I will allow resources to be diverted to this." He handed the datapad back to Wing Saber. "But I do advise you to be cautious. Once Megatron gets wind of what you're doing, he will try to take you back."

"I know. I want to get as much done as I can so that he will hopefully be a bit hesitant about conquering it."

"I hope so. I will let Prowl help get you what you need. He handles our supplies list among other things."

"Thanks, Optimus. I hope you'll come out ta see it sometime, won't you? It might do ya a bit of good."

Optimus smiled. "I might be able to make time for that."

"I'll leave ya then." said Wing Saber, subspacing the datapad.

"Wing Saber, I will need a copy off your blueprints and a detailed list of what you need." Prowl said as the two left Optimus's office.

Wing Saber pulled her datapad back out of subspace. "Here. I have another copy in my quarters. This should have everything you need on here."

Prowl took the datapad and scrolled through it. All the information he needed was well organized and arranged in an orderly fashion.

"Do you have anything requires your immediate attention?"

Wing Saber stopped walking and turned back to Prowl. "No, why?"

"I would like us to go to my office and see where you can plant this garden while being outside Autobot territory yet still be under Autobot protection. I have a few places in mind."

Wing Saber raised an optic ridge at him. "Already?"

"I am the Prime's head tactician and strategist. It's my job to make sure all bots under the Prime's protection are as safe as possible."

"Right …" Wing Saber said, nodding. She had forgotten about that.

Prowl turned and headed for his office with Wing Saber in tow.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Soundwave had been raised in an underground temple of Primus. The orn his creators discovered his telepathic abilities, they took him to the temple and lived close enough to tend to his needs while he was trained to serve Primus. Telepaths, seers, and oracles had various roles in the temple.

He was a very quiet sparkling and had a hard time showing what he was thinking and feeling. His telepathic abilities were so strong, he had a hard time separating which thoughts were his and which thoughts belonged to someone else.

A friend of his creators suspected him being a telepath when his creators told him their concerns about the youngest son of their second trine of sparklings. The friend told them about the temple and that Soundwave could get help and training there.

Elated, his creators took him to the temple, where an older telepath took him under his wing and began to help the little sparkling.

He was given his first symbiot during his time there; Ravage. Ravage was the only symbiot who wasn't birthed from his own spark.

He was young when the temple was ransacked. Hundreds of bots were killed, including his parents. His master was also among the dead. All younglings were rounded up. Those who cowered and begged for their lives were terminated while those who fought back or offered no resistance were taken captive and sold.

If Soundwave hadn't been such a good fighter, he would have been killed for being a symbiot carrier. He was sold to the Pits to be used as a practice drone for gladiators in training. He did so well against his opponents that the overseers started training him to become a gladiator himself.

When he became of age, his spark started to kindle, or bud, symbionts of his own. Lazerpeak was the first of many. He had many in the Pits. It was in the Pits where Soundwave met Megatron. The two had been pitting against each other in a match. They were so equally matched, that their battle lasted for at least a joor before Soundwave made a mistake and Megatron beat him. Barely.

Megatron was far too exhausted to terminate Soundwave, so the Pit Master decided to let them both live. Megatron won Soundwave's respect and the two became inseparable. They were still friends.

 _Not that Megatron would let anyone know that now_ , Soundwave thought with a heavy spark. Megatron had changed so much from the charismatic gladiator who cared about those least fortunate than himself.

Megatron had eventually killed the Pit Master, scattering his followers. He freed the gladiators and the Pits became a training ground for the Uprising.

Megatron used to be so different; so happy, so full of hope and freedom. _What had gone wrong?_

The only reason Soundwave was a Decepticon was out of loyalty to his best friend. He still cared about Megatron.

Megatron was happiest with Orion Pax. He fell for the young, sheltered data clerk. Now, all he wanted to do was slay Orion, now Optimus Prime, for betraying him and robbing him of the Matrix of Leadership.

Soundwave felt that there was something wrong with the whole meeting with the counsel, but nothing was adding up. He didn't have the time to do the research needed to find out.

Everything lied with the new Seekers, at least the older two. Those two were special. That day he stood atop the Autobot base, he tried to reach out to them and they responded. They didn't come to him, but he knew they heard him. They had hesitated, not sure what they were sensing, but they were open, receptive. They were a little old for training, but they were still young enough.

The next time Megatron planned to attack Iacon, Soundwave would try to reach out again. If they still hesitate, he will go on his own time and reach out.

 _[ Why not now? ]_ asked Ravage, hopping up on the computer console Soundwave was working at. _[ See if they respond better to you now and then draw them out during the battle when the Autobots are distracted. ]_

That maybe a better idea. Draw them with just enough stimulus to get them curious and awaken a drive to follow. Then at a more opportune time, draw them out. He still remembered when his master had established dominance over him when he was little. These two youngsters were much older and were highly intelligent. It was going to be more difficult to establish dominance, but they needed training. The key to this war's end lied with them.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

"Kalis is an Autobot territory. It would be best if you build this in the land east of Iacon and Kalis." said Prowl, pointing to a strip of land east of the two city-states, bordered by Nova Cronum, a neutral territory, to the west. "It is not technically Autobot territory, but it is still close enough to that we can protect it. With Nova Cronum so close, Megatron will be less likely to outright attack it."

"Okay." said Wing Saber. "How much space will I have?"

"More than enough. I'll have the supplies you'll need ready in two orn. There is an energon spring there protected by Nova Cronum that I will have to request permission for you to use. We are on good terms with them so they should let you, a neutral yourself, use the spring for this." Prowl began to pull up different windows on his screen and began to scroll through them, looking for something.

"When do you think you'll have an answer?"

"They will likely answer within the next two to three orn. The latest they've answered is a vorn. If they take longer to respond, something will be wrong."

"Thanks, Prowl. This means a lot." Wing Saber said, thankfully.

"No need for thanks, Wing Saber. To be honest, I like the idea of a garden. I also like the security measures you have taken prevent too much fighting."

Wing Saber nodded and continued to watch Prowl work for a bit.

She looked at the black and white Praxian. She tried to get a feel for his emotions. He was so stoic. She could sense other emotions beneath the hard exterior he always had up, but she couldn't gauge him well.

"That will be all, Wing Saber. You may go now."

Wing Saber straightened. "Oh. Sorry. Thanks."

She briskly left the office.

She stopped in the hall as soon as the door to Prowl's office was shut. She looked at the door and couldn't help be smile. A garden! She need not worry about insufficient funds or lack of supplies. The Autobots would take care of everything.

Excitement began to bubble within her. She was going to create a place where both sides will want to be. And hopefully, enjoy each other instead of hating each other.

She walk off and pulled her datapad out. She began to scroll through the different types of crystals she had and the variety available from the ruins of Praxus. There were so many different colors and color patterns. Each crystal formation had its own song. If placed right, these formations could amplify or muffle sound. So many things had to be considered to make this place a masterpiece.

There won't be very many large formations around the sparing or shooting rings.

She rounded a corner, placing smaller shrub-like formations around one of the rings in her blue print. Wing Saber was so focused on her work that she didn't watch where she was going. She didn't notice someone was approaching until she saw someone's golden reflection on the surface of her datapad.

Startled, she looked up, but didn't stop soon enough. She collided with the owner of the reflection. The agitation that the bot radiating seemed to assault her field she backed up and looked up to the scowling faceplates of a golden mech.

The mech was as tall as Bladestream and well armored. His golden plating was lightly accented with a dark silver. Unlike most of the Autobots, this warrior's plating did not have a scratch or ding on it. It shone with what seemed to be a high quality gloss finish.

But the mech was not at all pleased with her crashing into him. His pale blue optics may as well been glowed balls of ice.

If it had been anyone else, she would've said sorry and walked around the bot and go on her way. But this bot seemed to affect her differently. Her spark fluttered within her chest, her wings lowered of their own accord.

She made optic contact with the mech. His scowl deepened, his armor bristled, and his engine began to emit a low growl.

"Sorry." she muttered, moving around the large mech, and leaving the hall as quickly as possible.

She felt his optics burrowing into her back plates even after she turned the corner.

Her spark was still in a mess over running into the mech. She didn't think he had startled her _that_ bad.

She tried to steel her nerves so she could get back to work.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Sunstreaker watched the femme leave. That encounter was just wrong all together.

First off, the Seeker didn't screech at him to watch where he was going. Second, any other femme he met always tried to flirt with a warrior of his size and build. And third, she apologized. Seekers _don't_ apologize for anything. It's always the grounders' fault.

He had been about to tell her to watch his paint job, but when he looked at her, the warning died before it could leave his vocalizer.

She didn't have faction insignia on her frame, at least from what he could see. Her field lacked the snobby loftiness and pride typical for Seekers. Not only that, her optics were the deepest blue he had ever seen.

As he watched the femme round the corner, he noticed that her armor was bulkier and better reinforced that the armor of most neutrals.

Her hair and elaborate paint job reminded him of Bluestreak's friend, Stardust. This was probably Stardust's older sister.

She looked over her shoulder back at him before turning a corner. Her deep blue optics held traces of fear. Was it because of his appearance? Or was it simply because he had startled her?

 **~ Brother, you okay? ~** Sideswipe asked.

 **~ I'm fine. I think Stardust's sister ran just into me. ~** Sunstreaker groused.

 **~ Aw, come on, Sunny. It's can't be that bad. ~**

 **~ She's scratched my paint! ~ Sunstreaker** protested.

 **~ You know I'll buff it out for you. Which one? ~** Sideswipe asked, remembering that Stardust had mentioned having two sisters.

Not wanting to bother with describing the femme, he sent a memory of what she looking like.

His twin instantly fell for her. **~ She's beautiful! ~** he breathed.

Sunstreaker scowled. **~ You say that every time you see a femme! ~**

 **~ Because it's true! And I can tell you like her. ~**

Sunstreaker was about retort when he realized that his spark was acting funny. He didn't know how to describe what he was feeling … … it was similar to the way his spark acted whenever he thought about just how much he loved his brother. And yet, at the same time, it was … different.

Sideswipe was just eating this up. Sunstreaker shut the bond and walked off, putting the new femme out of his processer.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Just like Prowl said he would, he got all the supplies Wing Saber needed for the garden and more. He also sent her blue prints to Nova Cronum, asking the leaders for permission for Wing Saber to use to use the energon spring. They agreed, reluctantly. They weren't too keen on Decepticon visitors, but they agreed that Wing Saber's spark was in the right place.

Right away, Wing Saber had a shed built. Something that would protect small young crystals and keep her tools and supplies protected.

There were a few Autobots that were willing to help Wing Saber get the general layout of the garden set up. There were even bots from Nova Cronum who were willing to help.

Due to the length of a Cybertronian day, Wing Saber was able to get a great amount done in the first couple days. Her siblings all helped out with the garden, as well.

By the end of the first couple orn, the shed (which, quite honestly, was like a small house) was finished and the two closest sparing rings were also in place … mostly. The groundwork was laid out. None of the safety precautions were in place. Bladestream was making sure that none of the workers were sabotaging it. There were some Autobots that Wing Saber was cautious of.

The energon spring was going to be rerouted all over the garden and it would fuel various fountains and waterfalls. Well, they were technically "energon-falls".

Flowing energon had the same sound that flowing water did. Flowing water, in Wing Saber's opinion, was calming. Her mother had always enjoyed its sound. Wing Saber enjoyed it, too, but preferred the sound of a gentle rain.

Wing Saber looked around the garden "under construction". Its progress was faster than she anticipated. She didn't think that anyone besides her siblings would help with this.

She sensed something. It was like the brush of a gentle breeze, but right now there was no wind. For a moment she thought it was one of her siblings trying to get her attention, but it didn't feel right.

A second brush caused her to recognize it. It was the same thing she had felt a while back when the Autobots were called away to defend the base. She spotted Bladestream watching some workers beginning the final stages of a sparing ring. She was still baffled at how quickly this was going. Then again, one day here _was_ thirty-one Earth days long. Things were going to get done faster.

A third, stronger brush made her decide to go to Bladestream. She brushed against his spark as she approached.

He turned to face his sister.

" _ **Ya feel that?"**_ she asked in Seeker Cant, not wanting the workers to overhear their conversation.

" _ **Feel what?"**_

" _ **I felt a brush of some sort … against my mind. It didn't feel right to be against my spark."**_

Bladestream nodded, stroking his beard. _***sigh* "Yeah, I sensed it too. It felt like something was calling out to me,"**_

" _ **Beckoning you to follow?"**_ she finished, cocking her helm to the side.

He nodded again.

" _ **Last time I felt something like this was when the Autobots went to rescue their spies."**_

Wing Saber's optics grew wide. _**"I felt the same thing! Do you think this is the same thing?"**_

" _ **Person,"**_ Bladestream corrected, _**"It was a person. Last time, it was a voice. This time, it is only a telepathic brush against the mind."**_

Wing Saber shuttered her optics several times. She didn't remember a voice.

Just as she opened her mouth to tell him so, the unknown entity brushed against her mind again.

She turned to the open land to her left, south of the garden.

Bladestream rotated himself to face the source. But the two could see nothing.

Wing Saber looked at her brother.

"You think …?"

"Yes, but not for long. And not too far." Bladestream turned to the bots from Nova Cronum. "We'll be right back. We won't be gone long."

The workers acknowledged Bladestream's comment and went back to work.

The two walked to the edge of the edge of the garden territory and looked out across the barren landscape lightly littered with broken and unkept roadways. They scanned the area, looking for the source.

Wing Saber sensed someone close by. She instinctively honed in on the source. There was a figure standing in the shadows. The figure was tall, slender, his armor deep purple and a blue so dark it was almost black. His helm armor had many crests, as did his chest armor. His arms and stabilizers were broad, yet slender; almost like wings. He wore a full face mask, hiding his face from the world. His triangular wings told her that this mech was a Seeker.

She took a step back, recognizing the figure.

"Bladestream," she whispered.

Bladestream looked at her before looking at what she was looking at. He came to the same conclusion.

The figure … was Soundwave.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **= telepathy =**_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

* * *

 _Cybertron is getting colder. I'm starting to wonder if I started the garden too early. I'll have to find out how I'm supposed to prepare the young crystals for winter. I may need to build a greenhouse of sorts to protect the crystals I haven't planted yet._

 _Iacon is on the northern hemisphere of the planet not very far from the deserted amusement park, 6 Lasers of Cybertron, occupying the northern pole. Kaon, Vos, and Praxus are on the southern pole._

 _I wonder if it will snow here or not. I have seen the acidic rains a couple of times and Bladestream made the mistake of flying in it for a few minutes and got acid burns on his armor. The bots laughed at his misery for days. But rain was no big deal on Earth. You could stay out in a light shower and be fine. A severe downpour would soak you is seconds, but it didn't eat your skin off. It took a whole vorn for those burns to clear up._

…

 _Jazz has left again. He doesn't stay long anymore. Energon rations are being cut shorter. The Bots are running low on energon. I think Jazz is trying to find more. I hope that he finds some soon. The troops are getting cranky …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 _The figure … was Soundwave._

Bladestream was apprehensive. Soundwave's presence could mean any number of things, but no matter why he was here, he posed a great threat. And he was making Wing Saber nervous.

Bladestream stepped forward and flared his armor. He had caught on quickly that Cybertronians flared their armor in anger, annoyance, or as a show of strength.

Bladestream was fully prepared to engage Soundwave, should the need arise, but he had a feeling that Soundwave had not come to instigate a fight. And Soundwave's distance confirmed this. Bladestream could sense that the Decepticon was cautious, but at the same time was feeling them out. He was keeping a safe distance between himself and the two Seekers.

Bladestream raised an optic ridge, questioning Soundwave's motives in being here.

 _ **= Soundwave: wishes no harm. Intention: observe, evaluate. Desire: train new telepaths. =**_

So, Soundwave was telepathic. Bladestream had figured that he himself was telepathic to a degree. It would probably be best to respond in kind.

 _ **= For what purpose? =**_ Bladestream asked.

 _ **= Intention: train new telepaths. Power: unrefined. Directive: stop the war, help Megatron. =**_

 _ **= We have no intention in joining the Decepticons. =**_ Bladestream replied.

 _ **= Recruitment: not necessary. Young telepaths: desire to remain independent. Independent you must remain. Vital for the end of the war. =**_

Bladestream cocked his helm as something in the back of his processor told him that Soundwave could not be trusted. _**= How is training us vital to the end of the war? Why us? =**_

Soundwave did not answer, but instead turned his attention to Wing Saber, who had been pacing behind him and getting more and more agitated by the moment. She touched his arm. "Bladestream?" she asked, worry very clear in her voice.

 _ **= Sister's power: weak. Strong empath. Easily influenced by emotions. Must be trained. Your power: unrefined. Telepathy: key to war's end. Telepathy will help you understand the motives of others. =**_

 _ **= I don't see how telepathy is the sole thing that will stop the war. There is more to it than that. Most of the problem resides in the sparks of the individuals, not the minds. =**_

Wing Saber seemed to have not heard a word that Soundwave or Bladestream had been saying. She kept poking Bladestream's side of the bond, asking for information, begging to know what was going on.

Soundwave looked to Bladestream, silently asking permission to help Wing Saber.

Bladestream had no idea what Soundwave had in mind, but was curious to see what he would do. He nodded, his wings lowering a little, easing from their tense, guarded position.

 _ **= Your unease is influencing her. Calm yourself and project calmness to her. =**_

Soundwave began to approach Wing Saber, stopped a few yards away, getting optic contact with her.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber's battle protocols went into stand-by. She widened her stance, taking a step back.

Soundwave's presence here was not good. He was the Decepticon head of communication. He was also an ex-gladiator like Megatron. She had been burnt by an ex gladiator once and was not keen on confronting another one.

All sorts of possible outcomes ran through her processor. At the very least, he was satisfying his or his symbionts' curiosity. At the worst, he was going to call the Decepticon army on the place.

The calmness and reassurance that were entering her processor were only adding to her worry. She backed up.

Wing Saber looked at Bladestream. He had not moved. He just kept staring at Soundwave. His optical ridges would move and his face would shift, but Wing Saber could not piece together what was going on. Bladestream was not answering her when she tried to get information through the bond. She could sense that Bladestream didn't trust Soundwave, but was okay with Soundwave nearby.

She was starting to get more and more nervous. She touched Bladestream's arm in an attempt to get her brother's attention.

She suddenly felt Soundwave's attention snap to her. She looked at his blank mask. She could tell they had locked optics. She couldn't tell you how she knew, but she had Soundwave's full attention at the moment. _Not good_ , she thought.

Bladestream's field calmed down and his spark eased. He began to project the same calmness that Soundwave had been.

 **: It's alright, Wing Saber. He's not here to harm us. :**

She wanted to ask him how in the world did he know this, when Soundwave began to advance towards her. Wing Saber liked his cassettes, but Soundwave … she didn't know about him.

Wing Saber flared her wings and hissed a warning. She knew that Soundwave was close to Megatron and an ex gladiator. Wing Saber was not keen on confronting the silent Seeker, but was more than willing to tell him to back off. Yet despite the warning, Soundwave continued to advance.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Sharpshot wasn't thrilled about being placed with the neutrals and having to dig in the dirt. He would rather be out in the field kicking Con tailpipe. He stood and stretched the muscle cables in his arms. Maybe his roommate was right, maybe some manual labor would do him some good.

When he went back to loosening up the slab of debris so that it could be melted down, a shadow passed over him. He looked over his shoulder and saw one of the neutrals passing by. It was Bladestream. As tall as the Terror Twins, Bladestream housed a lot more power than both twins combined.

The tense position of the Seeker's wings caused Sharpshot to worry. He was no expert, but he had seen enough wing movements among the arielbots and Praxians to know when a winged bot was bothered. He watched as Bladestream approached his sister … Wing Saber, if he remembered right … and began to talk to her in that funny language that Seekers spoke. Wing Saber cocked her helm at him and looked at him curiously. The two soon walked off and headed for the southern border of the "garden".

Something just didn't sit right. His gut told him that the Seekers were about to find trouble. He abandoned his work and followed them, keeping a safe distance behind the pair, as he had heard that Wing Saber's EM field was much more sensitive than most Autobots and could detect a bot's presence long before the bot knew that she was there.

The Seekers stopped a ways away from the border of the garden. They seemed to be scanning the area. Wing Saber's wing were acting like giant radars.

Unlike most winged bots, Wing Saber's wings were in constant motion, even when she would fall into recharge at random times in the rec room. Those things were _never_ still.

Wing Saber saw something and nearly jumped out of her armor, taking a step back. Bladestream turned towards her, followed her gaze and suddenly stiffened. Sharpshot strained his optics on max zoom, but couldn't seem to see whatever it was that had gotten them spooked.

Just when he was about to get the scope of his rifle out so that he could see better, he spotted something that made his energon turn cold.

Soundwave emerged from the shadows of a war torn building.

Now it had been rumored around the base that these Seekers had come from Shockwave's labs and that they escaped. If that were true, it would make sense that they were scared of Soundwave. Soundwave's presence here was not a good thing. He needed to contact Optimus Prime.

To Sharpshot's relief, his commlink wasn't jammed. He decided to skip the commander on his unit and go straight to Red Alert. Red Alert would make sure that the higher ups would know of Soundwave's presence here.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Soundwave was too close for comfort. Wing Saber backed up and growled at him, her wings lowering subconsciously, acknowledging his age and experience level above her own. She knew she could never take him on and win, but if he continued to push it …

She shook her helm as whispers and other weird feeling assaulted both her field and her processor. The problem was, her field was registering one thing and her processor was registering another. Neither one could seem to agree on what Soundwave was trying to communicate. And her processor was starting to hurt.

She glared at Soundwave. She could almost see the light of his optics from behind the dark glass of his visor. His optics locked with her own.

Wait a klik, Soundwave was a telepath, right? If so, then maybe Wing Saber should try to tune out what her field telling her and try to figure out what her helm was getting.

Soundwave's optics seemed to express his approval as the assault of emotions on her processor increased. If she looked away, it became harder to sort out the emotions. Yet at the same time, to look into his optics met that the whispers increase in volume and that was a distraction. Either way, all it did was make her helm go from an annoying throb to pounding pain.

Wing Saber's engine gave off a submissive rumble as she put Bladestream in between her and Soundwave, hoping that it would break the connection she and Soundwave had at the moment. The whispers and the emotions suddenly stopped, leaving her a mite dizzy. Wing Saber sat down, the processor ache easing slightly. She groaned softly, holding her helm in her servos. A processor ache was one type of pain she couldn't tolerate very well.

Bladestream moved away from her, not very thrilled with Soundwave.

 _Whatever_ , she thought, _as long as Soundwave doesn't do that again._

Something rubbed against her stabilizer. She opened her optics to find Ravage rubbing his helm against her. Wing Saber spared a servo to scratch the feline behind the audios.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Wing Saber's pain hit his systems like liquid fire. Soundwave just crossed the line. Bladestream's optics blazed, his engine revved, his turbine flared to life, and his wings rose to their maximum span and height. _**= What did you do? =**_ he demanded.

Soundwave looked at him, raising a servo. Soundwave had not meant to irritate Bladestream. _**= Aggression: not needed. Soundwave: assessed Wing Saber's abilities. =**_

"Ravage: eject." A black cassette tape ejected from Soundwave's chest and transformed into a black cat. The cat spotted Wing Saber right away. Its optics flashed with worry and it ran over to her, rubbing his helm against stabilizer.

 _ **= Wing Saber: borderline telepath. Misunderstood Soundwave's test. Training: top priority. Respect needed before training can begin. =**_

Bladestream looked back at his sister. "So that whole thing was a show of dominance?" he asked, his ire only mildly settled.

 _ **= Negative. Dominance: necessary, but not the goal. =**_

Bladestream knew that Soundwave was telling the truth. Wing Saber had once said that Soundwave was the one Con who would always tell the truth. He didn't sense any falsehoods or alternate motives.

"You really just want to train us?"

"Who wants to train who?" Wing Saber asked. Bladestream raised his servo to say "please hold, wait"; a gesture used by many military personnel back on Earth. He'd tell her later.

Soundwave nodded.

 _ **= Art of Telepathy: lost, destroyed be the High Council. Telepaths: terminated or sold. Soundwave: sold to the Pits. Met Megatron there. Megatron: very different then. Telepaths: a threat to the Council. Telepaths: messengers of Primus. Speak Primus's will. Bladestream, Wing Saber: sent by Primus. Must stop the war. =**_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Soundwave was desperate. He wanted his friend back. He wanted Megatron to be happy again. He knew the strength of Bladestream's power from just this conversation. He had the triplechanger's curiosity piqued. Soundwave allowed memories of when Megatron was truly himself, how Soundwave remembered him to be, to come to the forefront of his mind and hoped that Bladestream would get the message.

Soundwave's spark lifted when he saw understanding is Bladestream's optics. Bladestream looked at the ground, his lip plates forming a firm line that was almost hidden by his facial hair. He turned to his sister, who had forgotten momentarily about the processor ache Soundwave had accidentally caused, and the two seemed to converse over their sibling bond. Soundwave chose not to look into their processors, giving them privacy and space.

Wing Saber shrugged and Bladestream turned back to him.

 _ **= We need time to think about this. We can't just accept your training. Even if we do, we have to let Optimus know. We are under his protection. =**_

Soundwave nodded. "Soundwave: acknowledges request. Will return here in three orns for reply. Ravage: return."

With a final helm but, Ravage returned to his master. Once Ravage was safely tucked inside Soundwave's chassis, Soundwave transformed and left.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Bladestream looked back at his sister. "You okay?" he asked.

Wing Saber nodded. "Thinkin' about goin' ta Ratchet fur some pain killers. I hate headaches." She stood up and the two began to walk back to the garden. "Any idea as to what that was all about?"

"The whole visit or the helm ache?"

Wing Saber smile sheepishly. "Both, kinda."

"The helm ache was a side effect of Soundwave trying to gauge your telepathic abilities. What he wasn't looking for, was telepathic dominance, which you acknowledged. The encounter as a whole, was to try to see if we were open for training."

"To become telepaths?"

Bladestream shook his helm. "He said we were already telepaths. He wanted to refine our abilities. Claimed that training us would end the war."

Wing Saber hummed and looked away. She mulled over something before turning back to him.

"Did he really show you those things? Were they really his memories?"

Bladestream nodded. "I don't believe that he was lying to me. He seemed pretty desperate. He wants the old Megatron back."

"Maybe we should have accepted his offer."

"We need to notify Optimus first. He will be able to give us some valuable insight. I don't trust Soundwave."

Wing Saber rubbed where her temple would be if she was still human. "I'm just glad Gears isn't here. If he saw us with Soundwave, I'd never heard the end of it."

Bladestream bristled. "I won't allow that. You've got to start telling me when he talks like that to you."

"Yes, but if I do, then it'll look like I can't handle my own battles. You don't always need to come to my rescue. I just need you to keep Mirage off of me." Wing Saber would rather deal with racial comments from the minibots than bots who think they're playboys.

"Want me to escort you to the medbay?"

His sister smiled, optics shining with appreciation. "Gotta pass off my duties to someone else, then we can go."

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Bladestream and Wing Saber parted ways at the medbay. Wing Saber went to see Ratchet while Bladestream headed for Optimus's office.

Optimus had wanted to gather his inner circle of officers, but Bladestream didn't want everyone to know what had transpired between himself and Soundwave.

Optimus was reading a report (twin prank that put Tracks in the medbay with a permanent bright pink paint job) when Bladestream knocked.

"Come in, Bladestream."

Bladestream entered and shut the door. Optimus sent a command for it to lock.

"Please, have a seat."

Bladestream looked at the chair, deciding it was not wing-friendly. "No thanks, I will stand."

Optimus nodded. "I apologize. I must get Seeker friendly chair in here. Prowl prefers standing so much that I have not done so." He looked at the black triplechanger. "What happened with Soundwave?"

Bladestream crossed his arms, "Remember a few orns ago, when you sent bots out to retrieve some spies?"

Optimus did remember.

"I was in the communications room when I felt a brush against my mind, a very different feeling from the spark bonds I am used to. I would hear a voice in my mind, the voice wanted me to come to its owner's location. I didn't follow it then, not sure of its origins.

"This orn, I … once again … felt this same feeling and calling in Wing Saber's garden. I ask Wing Saber about it and she tells me that she feels something similar. We both go looking for the source, but once it became clear that the origin was outside the garden, we did not go very far past the garden border. Now, Wing Saber was able to pinpoint the source and," he raise a digit in the air, "it was Soundwave. Soundwave didn't want to fight with me or Wing Saber, but he did want to analyze an ability that he sensed that we had."

"Telepathy …" Optimus rumbled.

Bladestream nodded, gesturing to Optimus. "Right, and he said as much. Wing Saber's telepathic abilities are not as strong as mine, so trying to go from empathy to telepathy gave her a processor ache. I already told her about what Soundwave said, but the gist is this; he wants to train the two of us, refine our abilities, and encourage telepathic growth.

"He said that Wing Saber was border-lined between telepath and empath, but she could get there with training. However, he will not force us to accept training, if we don't want it. He will meet us there again in three orn to hear our answer."

"Did he do anything to Wing Saber?" Optimus asked, concerned about her absence.

"He tried to communicate with her telepathically, only to give her a bad processor ache. I think he felt bad for it, since he dispatched his feline casseticon to make her feel better." Bladestream said. He let an unspoken question hang in the air.

Optimus sighed. "I cannot tell you whether you should or should not accept Soundwave's offer. You alone must decide if you want Soundwave's teaching.

"However, I advise you to be extremely cautious. Soundwave is the Decepticon Communications Officer, as well as Megatron's third in command. Soundwave has been with Megatron far longer than I have. If Megatron wants to use him as a method to get you to join the Decepticons, there will not be much to stop Soundwave from doing so."

"I am aware of that, Optimus. I do not trust Soundwave completely, though I do not believe him to be lying when he said that he wanted to train us in the ways of a telepath. It does bother me that Soundwave would do something like this outside of Megatron's knowledge." Bladestream said, stroking his beard.

"It really isn't that unusual, given Soundwave's species." Ratchet said, causing Bladestream to turn to him, wings up in a guarded gesture, clearly upset by Ratchet's entrance. Optimus had not heard him come in.

Ratchet waved a dismissive servo at Bladestream. "I have medical overrides. There isn't a room I don't have access to.

"Soundwave is a Seeker, just as you are. With Seekers, it has always been 'blood before faction'. Most Seekers still follow this code, which greatly irritates Megatron, but there is little he can do about it. Starscream is one of the few Seekers who have abandoned their own code of honor."

Bladestream nodded in understanding.

"As far as Wing Saber is concerned, her processor is just overworked. Give her time alone to rest and she'll recover. If next time you see Soundwave, tell him not to pull that stunt again.

"Whatever you decide, Bladestream, rest assured that we will everything in our power protect you and your family." Optimus promised, wanting to protect the young Seekers from further harm by Decepticon servos.

Even though Bladestream nodded and said thank you, Optimus could tell by the look in his optics that Bladestream didn't quite believe him. And it made his spark clench.

Bladestream left, likely to see to his sibling.

"Don't take it personal, Orion." Ratchet's gentle voice drew Optimus's attention away from the closed door. "Neither Bladestream nor Wing Saber are very trusting. It has nothing to do with your ability to protect them. Even Stardust is reluctant to trust anyone. It stems from their past. Their sire wasn't the best of role models … nor any other male for that matter. It's part of why Bladestream and Wing Saber are as close as they are. Stardust told me some of what they went through."

"Did Wing Saber reveal any details of their encounter?" Optimus asked, trying to ignore the ache in his spark.

Ratchet shook his helm. "Nothing other than the fact that she thought Soundwave was trying to communicate something to her. Attempting to understand him gave her a helm ache."

Optimus rumbled in acknowledgement and looked back to the door. "I do not believe they are telling us everything. Bladestream was phrasing his words carefully, as though he were hiding some information."

"The more he comes to trust you, the more he will reveal. Give him some time." Ratchet patted the Prime on his shoulder strut and left the office.

Optimus stared at the door for some time before commanding it to open about thirty degrees. He prayed to Primus that Soundwave didn't plan to harm the neutrals. They had been through enough.

* * *

 **Finally done! Feedback is greatly appreciated!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the wait! Got a job last year and then started real college. Art classes can be so demanding. Anyway, I got the chapter done. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Transformers. I just play with them. I only own my OC's.**

Time:

Astro-second = 1.258 Earth seconds

1 nanocycle/nanoklik = 10 seconds

1 cycle/klik = 60 nanocycles/nanokliks _120 seconds_

Breem = 15 kliks _30 minutes_

1 joor = _1.3 Earth days_

Solar cycle/orn = 24 joor _31.557 Earth days_

Vorn = 10 orn

Groon = 8 vorn

Orbital cycle = 12 groon _83 human years_

Deca-cycle = 10 orbital cycles

Centi-cycle/Mega cycle = 100 orbital cycles

Meta cycle = 1,000 orbital cycles

Communication:

 _ **:: comm. link ::**_

 **\- Bondmates/sparkmates -**

 **~: creator/creation bond :~**

 **: sibling bond :**

 **~ spark twin bond ~**

 _Thoughts/memories/flashbacks/dreams/singing_

 _[symbiot/symbiot carrier]_

 _ **= telepathy =**_

 _ **Seeker Cant**_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 _Play. An essential part of a child's development as well as the building of bonds between people. It reduces stress and connects people together. Even if it is an electronic game or hide and seek, we all need a little down time to have fun. Sometimes it has to be the mud puddle._

 _I think the bots need to play more. Even the Cons. The first of the sparing rings is nearly done and then Bots and Cons can start to mingle without the constant fighting and have the ring to settle disputes. But without casualties._

 _Quite honestly, I hope it works …_

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Jetstorm was on a roll this orn. He had beaten Warpath three times already and was on his way to beating him a fourth time. The two of them had decided that they would play the racing game 7 times and the loser got to clean Ironhide's guns next vorn.

Warpath was punching away at the buttons on his controller. The two of them were neck and neck, on the last straight stretch of road. Warpath swerved in an attempt to knock Jetstorm of course. Jetstorm had been waiting for that move, watching Warpath out of the corner of his optic. He used a boost he had been saving to speed ahead right at the last second to get out of the way and across the finish line.

"Yes!" Jetstorm cried, fist pumping the air.

Warpath groaned loudly and tossed his controller across the table that was between the couch and the holovid screen. He leaned his arms on his upper stabilizers. He was going to have to stop accepting the youngling's challenges.

"Found it!" a bot shouted from the storage closet on the left side of the room.

Jetstorm turned to find Sideswipe digging around in the closet. The mech stood as tall as Jetstorm's brother, Bladestream, and was a deep red with black high lights with sensory horns on the top of his helm like Jazz. Sideswipe turned away from the closet and stepped over the mess he had made around the entrance. He had another controller in his right servo.

"Found what?" Warpath groused.

"One of the missing controllers. Now all three of us can play."

Wind Dancer came up to Sideswipe. "Are there any more controllers, or do you have just three?" she asked, scrunching up her face in a worried expression.

Sideswipe grinned and gave his controller a toss, placing his other servo on his hip-strut.

"If you really think you can keep up with us, there's more this came from."

Wind Dancer's optics lit up and her wings wiggled in such a way that it reminded Jetstorm of Bladestream's dog, Nanook, back on Earth. That dog never _wagged_ his tail, he wiggled it.

"Where?!" she asked, excited about being able to play too.

Sideswipe traded which servo was holding the controller and pointed to the closet he had just raided. "There is a black box in the back right corner. Can't miss it."

"I'll set it up for four players." Jetstorm said, pressing buttons to go to the main menu.

"Your little tournament with hafta wait," Ironhide said, walking over to the couch, "The convey just got back with energon an' it's all servos on deck."

" _What?!_ " Sideswipe shouted.

"Yes, sir!" Warpath said, getting off the couch. "Where's the convoy?"

"Hanger B, east side." Ironhide turned to Jetstorm, "You too, kid."

Jetstorm stared at Ironhide's retreating back plates. "Why me? I'm not an Autobot."

Ironhide turned to face Jetstorm. "Ya live here, don't ya? You refuel from the same energon I do. The rest o' yer fam'ly are helpin' out, too. Git off yer aft and come on."

Jetstorm opened his mouth to tell Ironhide that he didn't know what an aft was, so how could he get off of it, Ironhide cut him off.

"An' don't tell me ya don't know what that is or I'll gladly show ya an' you'll still hafta bring in energon." He walked out of the rec room without another word.

Jetstorm sighed and put the controller down. "Come on, Wind Dancer, let's get this over with."

Wind Dancer half stepped, half leaped, over the stuff Sideswipe had strung all over the floor, wings twitching in irritation. "Sideswipe really should clean this up. Prowl made Sunstreaker do it last time he made this mess."

"What we really need, is to have Wing Saber organize the thing. That way we can actually find the controllers when we need them." Jetstorm said, still upset with Ironhide.

The two managed to catch up with Ironhide and Wind Dancer had to almost run to keep up with the mechs.

Upon arriving at the hanger bay, Jetstorm looked for his other siblings, but only found Bladestream and Wing Saber. Stardust was nowhere in sight. According to the bond, she wasn't anywhere near the hanger either.

This upset Jetstorm greatly. Wing Saber was in the large ship putting giant energon cubes on small dollies. She should know where Stardust was.

He jogged up the ramp and over to Wing Saber.

"Wing Saber."

Wing Saber was in the process of unlocking the wheels of the dolly. "Hmm?" she asked, her wings going up like husky ears at attention.

"Where is Stardust? Ironhide said that we all were supposed to be here. And I don't see her."

"She's with Ratchet, helping him figure out where the energon is to go and how much goes where."

Jetstorm huffed. "She's not _that_ good at problem solving."

His older sister gave him a look that said "watch your tone". "Maybe not, but she is Ratchet's apprentice … protégé. Maybe he'll teach her a thing or two." She said, going back to unlocking the wheels on the other side of the dolly.

Jetstorm rolled his optics. "Doubtful."

There was a crash farther back inside the ship. Both Seekers looked towards the source of the crash to find some energon cubes had fallen over. Jazz peeked out from behind one of the fallen cubes. "Hey Storm? Would ya mind givin' meh a servo oveh 'ere? These cubes are a mite large fuh meh ta move safely."

That was just funny to Jetstorm. He smirked. "That's just cause you're short." he teased. He walked over and began to stack the cubes back up. But seriously! Jazz failed to mention that the cubes were heavy!

"Ya gotta be small ta do my job, mech!" Jazz said, proudly.

Jetstorm felt warm amusement coming from Wing Saber. Jazz pushed a cube to Wing Saber and she took it and put it on another dolly.

Jetstorm heard the sounds of another ship coming in. He saw more mechs heading for the incoming ship. Jazz jogged over to the ship's entrance. "Anotheh shipment o' energon!" he said, clearly happy about the ship's arrival.

"How much energon is there?" Jetstorm asked.

"A lot. Ah scouted out an energon mine the Cons had. Ah thought that it was gonna be a small mine, due ta the energon spike ah found, but it turned out ta be huge! We caught the Cons off guard an' we were able ta confiscate the mine. There's gotta be at least 10 ships of energon."

Jetstorm sighed. They were going to be at this all orn long. There wasn't going to be any time to play with Warpath now!

"Awww, don't fret, Storm! We'll git the energon all unloaded behfore the night cycle."

"Hope so."

A couple of Autobots came up the ramp and took the energon cube on the dolly. Bluestreak ran past the bots and got Wing Saber's attention. "Do you have any more of those wheeled things? Sunny's asking for one. He's complaining that the cubes will scratch his paint."

Wing Saber scrunched up her face and turned to count the dollies that were stacked off to the side against the wall of the ship. Then she cocked her helm and counted on her digits and gesturing. Probably counting the dollies that weren't here.

She grabbed two dollies of the stack. "Take these. I _do_ want them back, okay? I don't have many of them."

Bluestreak took them and cheerfully said his thanks before running back down the ramp.

"Storm!"

Jetstorm turned to Jazz.

"Can ya start gettin' the cubes on top o' the stacks an' bring them ta ya sisteh?"

Jetstorm chuckled. "You're short."

Their teasing continued throughout the orn. They emptied the ship they started on and emptied four more before word went around that all the ships were unloaded.

Jazz said that it would have taken a lot longer if Bladestream and Wing Saber had not made all the dollies. Bladestream got stuck making dollies all orn long instead on unloading and moving energon cubes.

They were finished with all the work with a joor or two of daylight left. That meant that he could play with Warpath and Sideswipe!

He went to the rec room. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone using the holovid screen and the controllers were still here. He turned the screen on and began to set it up a four-player game.

Someone touched his shoulders and yelled, "BOO!"

Jetstorm jumped and turned around as Wind Dancer giggled.

He scowled. "Don't do that, Wind Dancer!" She should know better than to come up behind someone and startle them.

"Just did." she said, coming around the back of the couch and flopping down on it. "Are Warpath and Sides coming?"

"They should be. If they don't get pulled into battle."

He and Wind Dancer picked out there vehicles and waited for the other two to show up. They talked about trick and secrets in the game before Warpath and Sideswipe finally made their appearance.

"Where were you two?" Wind Dancer asked.

"Your sister decided to double check every energon storage room and count the cubes. There were a couple missing from one of the vaults. Had Prowl and Ratchet making everybody searching for the missing cubes." Sideswipe grumbled, searching for the controller that he had earlier before finding it on the table. He grabbed it rather roughly and dramatically collapsed on the couch on the other side of Wind Dancer.

Wind Dancer looked up at uch on the other side of wind before finding it on the table. the red frontliner. "Which one?"

"The lighter blue one with the crystal flower in her …" Sideswipe face became puzzled as he tried to find the words to describe the wires that hung from their helms.

"Hair." Jetstorm grinned.

Sideswipe gave him a slightly disgusted look. "That's what you call it? Sounds organic."

Jetstorm shrugged. "We grew up on an organic planet. Our creators never had any. They didn't know what to call the stuff, so we just called it what the native life forms called it."

Sideswipe shrugged and picked out his vehicle.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

Sideswipe watched as Jetstorm went through the options and set them up for a four-player race with about twelve other computer controlled racers. He thought that Jetstorm would choose solo racing, but he chose two-player team racing where Jetstorm and Wind Dancer were on one team while he and Warpath were on another.

"What tracks do we want?" Jetstorm asked.

Sideswipe leaned forward. "Have you unlocked the Velocitron tracks?"

Jetstorm made a confused face.

Sideswipe held out his servo. "Here, give me the controller."

Jetstorm handed him the controller and Sideswipe left Jetstorm's mode and went into his own. He had unlocked all the main planets and their tracks, but none of the secret ones. He didn't have the patience for it.

"You want a challenge? These tracks a chalenge? main planets and their tracks, but nne of the jetstorm are based off of the real race tracks on Velocitron. The _entire planet_ is built around racing." He said, selecting some of the more simple tracks on Velocitron.

Wind Dancer sighed beside him. "I wish we had wheels. Then we could race for real."

Sideswipe froze and stared at the youngling. He _never_ heard a Seeker wish for wheels. As a matter of fact, no Seeker in their right processor wants wheels at all.

Jetstorm looked at her. "Well, Bladestream has wheels. Maybe Ratchet can give us some."

Sideswipe stepped in, "I wouldn't recommend it. You can't just ask someone to do surgery and slap some wheels on. Seeker and grounder coding and protocols are very different. Triplechangers have very unstable CPU's and they were _created_ that way."

"Well, Shockwave gave Bladestream his wheels and he turned out fine. Ratchet says that his processor is just as stable as any Seeker or grounder."

Sideswipe optics widened. Shockwave was really involved with their creation? He had heard rumors that these Seekers were experiments of Shockwave's, but he didn't believe them.

The look that Wind Dancer gave her brother said that he was probably not supposed to reveal that. And for a good reason. Most bots around here would view them as Decepticon spies if that got out, even if they were only younglings. It wouldn't be the first time the Cons used younglings as spies. But he chose not to address that now.

"Shockwave would make sure his pets were stable, both in frame and in processor. The instability common to triplechangers would be a flaw to Shockwave. Not everyone can make the programming blend like that. I don't think it's a good idea."

Warpath scoffed. "You actually think something like that is a bad idea? Since when do you think something's a bad idea?"

"Hey!" Sideswipe said defensively, jabbing a digit at himself, "I do use my processor once in a while."

"Yeah right." Warpath muttered with a smirk on his faceplates.

"And this isn't some prank! You don't mess with a bot's programming!"

"Can we play the game?" Jetstorm asked, upset by the delay.

Sideswipe sighed and gave his old controller to the young Seeker. He would be player one for now. He was about to hit the start button when he heard someone calling Wind Dancer.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Wing Saber, the eldest of the neutral Seekers.

His spark fluttered in its casing. He always liked femmes and Wing Saber was no exception. Sunny won't admit it, but his brother appreciated her paint job. Even Sideswipe thought that it was a wonder. She was a little stocker built than most femmes, but that only added to her beauty. And her optics were the deepest blue he had ever seen.

"I've finally finished some more glass beads. They're pink, not purple, but I was wondering if you wanted me to put them in your hair?" the blue femme asked, a single wing cocking, looking like the audios of a petro-puppy.

"Do you have any more blue ones?" asked Wind Dancer, turning around to see her sister better.

Wing Saber looked in the box she was holding, raising one of her optic ridges. "I have a few …"

"Enough to alternate the colors?"

Wing Saber gave the youngling a sympathetic look. "No." she said, with a small shake of her helm. "I'd have to make more."

Wind Dancer seemed cool with this. "That's fine. Can you put them in while we play?"

Wing Saber shuttered her optics a few times. "I guess I could. But you'd have to be incredibly still. And I'd need you to sit in a different chair."

"Okay," she turned to Sideswipe, "DON'T start yet, I'll be right back." She said as she ran off to find a more appropriate chair.

"I'll go get a brush and comb." Wing Saber said, turning to leave the room. She didn't get very far before she noticed the open closet. She stared at it for a while, wings constantly moving with thoughts unheard, probably wondering who made the mess.

Sideswipe's spark skipped a beat. The way the light bounced off the plating of her wings made him want to touch them.

Wing Saber spun around and looked at him with wide optics and wings high as though she had been startled.

"SIDESWIPE! Start the game!"

Sideswipe looked at Jetstorm with indignation. "I can't without Wind Dancer! She'll be back soon anyway." He turned to look back at Wing Saber, who was now giving him a confused look with one of her wings cocked sideways. She left the room, looking back over her shoulder at him before disappearing around the wall.

Sideswipe's comm link went off. _**:: You like her, don't you? ::**_

He turned to Warpath. _**:: You won't be able to get close. Her brother won't allow it. Even if you**_ **did** _ **manage to talk to her without him near, she'll refuse your advances. Not everyone gets hooked on you, Sides. ::**_

Before Sideswipe could give a retort, both Wind Dancer and Wing Saber had returned. Wind Dancer set up the chair on Sideswipe's left. She ran in front of the screen to retrieve her controller before running back to the chair and sitting in it. Wing Saber placed the box she was holding on the back of the couch as well as a spray bottle and a few other strange objects.

 _ **:: What, do you know from experience? ::**_ Sideswipe asked, watching Wing Saber touch different parts of Wind Dancer's helm and frame, silently asking her to adjust herself for Wing Saber to best do her job.

 _ **:: Others have tried, Sides. Even Mirage. She rejected him rather violently. I always thought Seekers were always in the mood. ::**_ Warpath said, deciding to talk to the younglings about the track they were about to start.

Wing Saber picked up the spray bottle and pulled the trigger, misting the top of her sister's helm. Sideswipe, being in the line of fire, get wet, too. He examined the wetness. It was probably coolant or cleanser mixed with a bit of something else, something that smelled sweet. He couldn't place what it was, though.

"We can start now." Wind Dancer said matter-of-factly, giving him an almost deadpanned look.

"Right." Sideswipe adjusted himself, leaning forward with his controller just beyond his knee struts. He hit the start button.

Like he had said before, this was a simple track. What he didn't say, was this was an actual track on Velocitron designed for beginners. Not all the tracks in the game were on Velocitron, but a few of them were.

As soon as the green lights signaled the start of the race, his car sped ahead of the other cars, but Jetstorm's was not far behind his. Wind Dancer was a close third and Warpath would have been fourth, but he hit a few computer controlled racers and then hit the wall.

The first few turns were a breeze for Sideswipe, but he realized after the first lap that Jetstorm was _good_. The youngling was much better than he had anticipated. He was going to have to up his game.

The good news was, Sideswipe knew all the shortcuts and tricks. The bad news, was that Jetstorm and Wind Dancer were fast learners. They started to copy his moves during the second and third tracks. Sometimes they would stumble and it would cost them time, but when done correctly, the two youngsters excelled. Wind Dancer more so than Jetstorm.

Suspicious, Sideswipe snuck glances over his shoulder to see if Wing Saber was paying any attention. He was right. While Wing Saber was braiding Wind Dancer's hair, her optics would shift to the screen half the time. What was odd, was that Wing Saber would start to shift her frame with each bend of the tract. If Wind Dancer crashed or took a nosedrive off the tract into a ditch or abyss, her faceplates would scrunch up or wince. He suspected that Wing Saber was giving Wind Dancer hints to get ahead.

A flash on the screen caused him to panic. His car was heading straight for the non-walled edge of a curve on a thin stretch of road. He over compensated, sending his car careening off the other side of the track, plummeting to the ground with a spectacular crash. He winced as everyone groaned. Jetstorm giggled as Sideswipe's car was placed back at the last checkpoint, dead last. Pride hurt, he pulled out all the stops to gain ground.

He did not win that track, but he did win the next three before losing in second place to Wind Dancer. Now he was really convinced that Wing Saber was helping.

"Done." said Wing Saber, packing up her stuff. Sideswipe looked at Wind Dancer's hair and his jaw dropped. Nine perfect braids each adorned with pink beads less than a digit's length in between them were pulled back, making Wind Dancer look like a princess. The pink accented well with her light purple paint.

Wing Saber looked at him with mild amusement. "What? I've been braiding hair since I was a youngling. Got tired of waiting on m' sire to do it."

"T _iah_ red!" Wind Dancer said, spinning around in the chair, poking fun at how Wing Saber pronounced the word, grinning from audio to audio.

Wing Saber glared at her out of the corner of her optic, wings lowering slightly in irritation. She completely ignored her sister's comment, she closed the lid on her box and twirled her brush.

"I'm gonna head back-"

"B _ay-a_ ck!"

Wing Saber frowned "-to the garden. Hopefully, I –"

" _Ahy_!"

Wing Saber's left wing twitched as her vents let out a long suffering sigh. Wind Dancer and Jetstorm were overcome with giggles. Even Sideswipe found himself grinning. "- won't have any visitors today."

"Visitors?" asked Sideswipe.

She turned towards him, faceplates a little anxious. "Soundwave paid me 'n Bladestream a visit last orn."

Sideswipe scowled. "What did the Con want?"

"Don't know. He stared at us for a while and took off. Don't know what he wanted and I don't particularly care."

And with that, she walked out of the room, muttering something he couldn't catch.

Sideswipe frowned at her retreating form. She was hiding something. He would have to talk to Prowl about it. It wouldn't be the first time Cons posed as neutrals to get Autobot intel.

"What other tracks are there?" asked Jetstorm. Sideswipe shook his helm. Never in his existence had he seen Seekers who loved racing.

"Here, Velocitron has all kinds of terrain. Cybertron also has some, though not as wide of a variety."

He went back to the planet menu and selected Cybertron. He handed Jetstorm the controller. "Wanna pick the one?"

The young mech took the controller and sifted through the tracks, wings aflutter with excitement.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

"It's been two days now."

"I know."

"We have tah give him our answer tomorrow."

"I know."

Silence.

"Are we gonna say yes?"

Wing Saber leaned against the back of the couch, looking at Bladestream, who reclined on its armrest. They were the only ones up at this time. A few dim lights gave Ironhide's living room a soft glow. If it weren't for the lights of their optics, the room would be borderlined too dark to see properly. It was at this time of the night cycle where they could talk in English without getting judgmental stares.

Bladestream stroked his beard, sighing forcefully. His optics became slits as he thought. "I still don't quite trust his intentions. I truly believe that he wants nothing more than to spend time with us, but I just don't see him keeping it from Megatron."

"Yes, but, I don't honestly see him telling Megatron anything like that if he truly thinks that we are key to ending the war as we are; as factionless."

Bladestream pursed his lipplates together, stroking his beard some more. He looked up at her. "Do you want to do this? If you don't then I won't do it either and we can just te-"

"I want to do this. I want to give him a chance. Maybe we can find out what happened to them to have caused Megatron and Optimus to be driven so far apart."

Bladestream stared at her, one optic ridge raised higher than the other, optic shutters blinking a few times. "Do you know awkward that sentence just was?"

"Nope. Don't care." Wing Saber said, grinning.

A pause.

"We gonna tell Optimus and Soundwave tomorrow?"

"Soundwave already said that he'd meet us back at that same spot. I'd assume that it'd be the same time as well. But I think we should tell Optimus tonight."

"He probably is up at this hour if he has paperwork or stuff like that. Might want to bring him energon, too, if Ratchet hasn't been on his case yet."

"I'll do that." said Bladestream, getting off the couch. "You might want to get some sleep while you can. I don't know what's going to go down tomorrow."

"Okay. Night." Wing Saber said as Bladestream left the suite.

~~~~~SSSsssSSS~~~~~

 **There's that. Feedback is appreciated!**


End file.
